System and method for providing interconnected and secure mobile device charging stations

ABSTRACT

A system for verifying the identity of a user is disclosed. The system has a door that selectively opens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes to block access to the cavity, a lock configured to selectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed, a camera configured to image a user area adjacent to the door, computing memory having associated therewith code, and a processor communicatively coupled with the computing memory. The processor communicatively coupled with the computing memory is configured to execute the code and to control the camera to record a first image data of the user area that includes a plurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality of first times, store the first image data, and control the camera to record a second image data of the user area that includes a second image set recorded at a second time.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/665,479, filed Oct. 28, 2019, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/996,956, filed Jun. 4, 2018, whichis a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/362,370, filed Nov. 28, 2016 (and now U.S. Pat. No. 10,070,250),which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/095,866,filed Dec. 3, 2013 (and now U.S. Pat. No. 9,537,994), which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/732,731, filedDec. 3, 2012, which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The instant disclosure relates to mobile devices, and, in particular, tosystems and methods for providing interconnected, secure public orprivate mobile device charging stations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile devices, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants,tablets, and the like, are now widely used and heavily depended upon forvoice and data communications. In order to maintain proper power levelsfor the operation of the device, the battery of the mobile device needsto be recharged from time to time. Often, at inopportune times, mobiledevice users may be located at public or private locations without theability to recharge the mobile device battery. Even with the existenceof public mobile device charging stations, these stations are limited innumber and location. Consequently, a mobile device user runs the risk ofhis mobile device battery being exhausted before locating an availablestation to recharge the mobile device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Understanding of the present invention will be facilitated byconsideration of the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a system according to embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile device according toembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a system according to embodimentsof the present invention;

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a mobile device charging stationaccording to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4B illustrates another example of a mobile device charging stationaccording to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4C illustrates an example of an open locker of a mobile devicecharging station according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 4D-4F are flow diagrams illustrating the use of an exemplarycharging station;

FIGS. 4G and 4H illustrate a charging sequence and a “get phone”sequence;

FIGS. 4I and 4J illustrate an exemplary disclosed photo comparisonprocess;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate PhotoVerification in English and Spanish,respectively;

FIGS. 6A-6G illustrate loyalty program enrollment;

FIGS. 7A-7L illustrate a survey interface embodiment;

FIGS. 8A-8J illustrate an exemplary charging flow for loyalty members;

FIGS. 9A-E illustrate exemplary map displays on a mobile deviceaccording to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an exemplary method employed by the system according toembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12-15 illustrate exemplary mobile app screens for the presentinvention;

FIGS. 16-20 illustrate exemplary kiosk user interface screens of thepresent invention;

FIG. 21 illustrates a rear electronic keypad as an exemplary embodimentof the invention; and

FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary disclosed location module display foran exemplary disclosed user interface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one exemplary aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a systemfor verifying the identity of a user. The system includes a door thatselectively opens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes toblock access to the cavity, a lock configured to selectively lock andunlock the door when the door is closed, a camera configured to image auser area adjacent to the door, computing memory having associatedtherewith code, and a processor communicatively coupled with thecomputing memory. The processor communicatively coupled with thecomputing memory is configured to execute the code and to control thecamera to record a first image data of the user area that includes aplurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality of first times,store the first image data, control the camera to record a second imagedata of the user area that includes a second image set recorded at asecond time, and selectively unlock the door based on comparing thesecond image data to the first image data. Comparing the second imagedata to the first image data includes transmitting the first and secondimage data to a remotely-located device, selectively displaying some ofthe plurality of first images sets on the remotely-located device, andcontinuously displaying the second image set on the remotely-locateddevice.

In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a method. Themethod includes providing a door that selectively opens to allow accessto a cavity and selectively closes to block access to the cavity, usinga lock to selectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed,using a camera to image a user area adjacent to the door, providingcomputing memory having associated therewith code and a processorcommunicatively coupled with the computing memory to execute the code,and controlling the camera to record a first image data of the user areathat includes a plurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality offirst times. The method also includes storing the first image data,locking the door, controlling the camera to record a second image dataof the user area that includes a second image set recorded at a secondtime, transmitting the first and second image data to a remotely-locateddevice, selectively displaying some of the plurality of first imagessets on the remotely-located device, continuously displaying the secondimage set on the remotely-located device, and selectively unlocking thedoor based on comparing the second image data to the first image datausing the remotely-located device.

The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for providing andlocating public or private mobile device charging stations.

In embodiments of the present invention, one or more charging stationsmay be configured to charge a battery of a mobile device. A database maybe configured to store location information of the one or more chargingstations, as well as mobile device location, charge, and/or otherinformation of the one or more respective mobile devices. A servercommunicatively coupled with the one or more charging stations and thedatabase may be configured to determine proximity of the one or morecharging stations to a location of the mobile device. This determinationmay be based on the station location information and the mobile devicelocation information. Based on the determined proximity, the server mayprovide the station location information of a respective one or morecharging stations to the mobile device.

By way of example, the location of a charging station may be provided toa device as a push notification, such as including an indication ofbattery level and the closest charging station; or the location may beprovided when an on-device app is proactively opened by the user to seethe closest locations, such as may be assessed based on nativegeo-location services, for example. In the latter methodology, thebattery level may not be provided, and the closest stations may be shownin any of a variety of views, such as a list view, that may beselectable by the user.

As such, the server and/or mobile application may monitor, such aspinging the device periodically for, a power level of the battery of themobile device. Based on the power level of the battery of the mobiledevice, the user may be alerted via any known methodology, such as via apop-up alert from an app, and may be provided with location informationof the respective one or more charging stations nearest to the mobiledevice using the methods above.

Thereby, the invention may provide a system and method to alert a userof the locations of nearby public or private charging stations to chargehis mobile device when the battery power level of his mobile devicedecreases to a low level. Moreover, the disclosed system and method alsoprovide a system and method that provides: advertising opportunities forretailers; the ability for retailers to drive traffic to a store orstores; a mobile application—such a mobile application might indicateand/or suggest charging station locations, and/or monitor a user's useand the correspondent battery charge; and the like.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the presentinvention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevantfor a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating,for the purpose of clarity, many other elements found in typical networksystems, mobile devices, telecommunications servers andtelecommunications generally, and associated methods. Those of ordinaryskill in the art may recognize that other elements and/or steps aredesirable and/or required in implementing the present invention.However, because such elements and steps are well known in the art, andbecause they do not facilitate a better understanding of the presentinvention, a discussion of such elements and steps is not providedherein. The disclosure herein is directed to all such variations andmodifications to the disclosed elements and methods known to thoseskilled in the art.

It would be advantageous for a user to use a system to be alerted of thelocations of nearby public or private charging stations to charge hismobile device when the battery power level of his mobile devicedecreases to a low level. It would be particularly advantageous if sucha system and method also provided: advertising opportunities forretailers; the ability for retailers to drive traffic to a store orstores; a mobile application, such as a mobile application that wouldindicate and/or suggest charging station locations, and/or that wouldmonitor a user's use and the correspondent battery charge; and the like.

Mobile devices, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants,tablets, and the like are now widely used and heavily depended upon forvoice and data communications, and for information generally. In orderto be operational, mobile devices typically employ the use ofrechargeable batteries. These batteries need to be recharged from timeto time in order to maintain proper power levels for the operation ofthe mobile device. For example, some estimate that the typical user runsvery low on battery power in a mobile device multiple times each week.

Because a conventional charger generally utilizes alternating current,and specifically typically uses either 110V or 220V “household” currentdesigned for general use, it is often difficult to recharge a mobiledevice battery in a public place or while traveling without access to asuitable power terminal. However, the amount of current a phone acceptsis generally “stepped down” from the 110V or 220V alternating current,such as typically using a “wall wart” charger that comes with the phone,as would be apparent to the skilled artisan. Thus, even in the case ofan available power terminal, such charging would require the user toalso be traveling with a charger, which may be inconveniently bulky oreasily forgotten. Similarly, while outside and/or travelling in avehicle, the user may need to have his or her charger available(particularly, a charger that is adapted for the specific device brandand model) in order to use a vehicle's electrical power supply. Thus,public mobile device charging systems suitable for charging mobiledevices are highly beneficial.

However, although charging stations are known, and due in part to theubiquity of mobile device users and the currently limited number ofpublicly available mobile device charging stations, mobile device usersmay still have great difficulty locating a public charging stationavailable for use. Consequently, a mobile device user regularly runs therisk of his mobile device battery being exhausted before locating anavailable station to recharge the mobile device.

Therefore, the present invention provides for a user to have readilyavailable, secure charging capabilities. This is contrary to presentlyavailable charging solutions, which are typically non-secure at least inthat the only security generally provided is when the user stands nearbyto “guard” his/her phone. The inventive aspects may also provide for auser to be alerted of the locations of available public chargingstations when the battery power level of his mobile device decreases toa low level. In particular, when the battery power of the mobile devicedecreases below a predetermined threshold level (for example, 20% of itsmaximum power), the mobile device may request, from the server,information of one or more registered businesses, i.e., any place ofbusiness that includes a charging unit, that house a charging stationwithin a specified distance from the mobile device.

The disclosed system and method may also provide: advertising anddifferentiating opportunities for retailers; the ability for retailersto drive traffic to, and maintain traffic in, a store or stores; amobile application, such as a mobile application that would indicateand/or suggest charging station locations, and/or that would monitor auser's use and the correspondent battery charge; and the like. Forexample, a user's time in-store in a retail establishment is likely tobe increased as the user shops while awaiting a recharge. The user isalso provided with a differentiated, enhanced customer shoppingexperience that increases consumer loyalty.

With reference to FIG. 1, GPS satellites (or other known mobile devicelocating technologies, such as triangulation) 100 operate to determine alocation of a mobile device 104 that contains features, some of whichfeatures may be available based upon the location data. As used herein,mobile device 104 may refer to cellular phones, personal digitalassistants, tablets, and the like. The mobile device 104 may determineits location through the use of received GPS signals, or through the useof a filter which may combine location data from the GPS signals and/orfrom another system, such as cell-tower-triangulation or a WLAN systemin order to obtain a location or a more accurate location. The mobiledevice 104 may be wirelessly coupled to server 106. The server 106 maybe communicatively coupled to a datastore 108, as well as to a pluralityof charging stations 110.

According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the server106 periodically receives and stores location information associatedwith the mobile device 104. This location information may be sent fromthe mobile device 104; pulled from the mobile device 104; or obtainedfrom another service that is able to determine the location of themobile device (e.g., Location Based Services (LBS), Assisted GPS(A-GPS), eGPS, GSM Localization, Multilaterilization, Radiolocation,Trilateration, etc.).

For example, many public areas may provide Wi-Fi access points thatconsumers are allowed to utilize. These access points may also be usedto help ascertain the location of a user or his relation to publiclyavailable charging stations. For example, a Skyhook Wireless system maybe used. This location information may be analyzed independent of or inconjunction with other forms of information or location information. Forexample, Wi-Fi location information may be particularly useful incertain indoor environments where other technologies (e.g. GPS) may havemore difficulty functioning, such as in a shopping mall housing acollection of retail businesses.

Embodiments of the present invention allow a mobile device user (who maybecome registered with the system upon using the charging station 110for the first time) to be alerted of the locations of available publiccharging stations when the battery power level of his mobile devicedecreases, such as to a predetermined threshold level, which may beautomatically set or which may be previously set by the user.Accordingly, when the battery power of the mobile device decreases belowthis predetermined threshold level (for example, 20% of its maximumpower), the mobile device may request, from the server, information ofone or more registered businesses housing a charging station within aspecified distance from the mobile device. Alternatively, the locationinformation of the mobile device may be sent to the server and comparedwith: the location information of one or more of the registeredbusinesses housing a charging station; a list or a preferential list ofregistered businesses housing a charging station; a list of registeredbusinesses having charging stations and making offers to consumers thatthose businesses wish to be known to the consumers; and the like.

By way of non-limiting example only, a mobile device user may be out inpublic, shopping. Becoming occupied with his shopping, the user mayforget or neglect to check the battery power level of his mobile device.The system and method, according to embodiments of the presentinvention, may notify the user via his mobile device that the batterypower of the device is indeed low, and then may display to the user anearby store which houses a charging station, and that has a chargingunit, such as a charging “locker,” available. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the mobile device app may display the number ofcharging lockers available so a user does not waste time going to acharging station that does not have any charging lockers available. Bybeing timely notified by the mobile device associated with the disclosedsystem and method, the user may have enough time to locate andsubsequently recharge his mobile device battery for continued use of hismobile device without having to cut short his shopping experience orrisk losing operation of his mobile device. As a substantial benefit toa registered business housing the charging station, the business mayexperience increased consumer traffic, as potential consumers enter thebusiness to recharge their phone, and the opportunity to make targetedenticements to consumers having a known location proximate to theregistered business. For example, in a specific retail brand researchstudy, usage of the disclosed cell phone charging kiosk resulted in anincrease in dwell time of 130%, an increase in spend of 51%, and anincrease in Net Promoter Score of 26%.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a mobile device 104 according to anembodiment. Within the mobile device 104, a receiver 202 may receivesignals transmitted from GPS satellites, cell-towers, and/or accesspoints for WLAN communication. A transmitter 204 may transmit signalsincluding location information to the remote server or other accesspoints. Power is provided to the various components of the mobile device104 through battery 206. A station location module 208 may monitor apower level of the battery 206, and, based on the power level, thestation location module 208 may provide station location information tothe user of the mobile device 104. It should be noted that the stationlocation module 208 may be able to monitor other functions and featuresof the mobile device as well. This information may be stored in one ormore of databases described in datastore 108. The various modules withinthe mobile device 104 may operate as described hereinthroughout. Acontroller/processor 210 may direct the operation of various moduleswithin mobile device 104, such as by execution of software program codeto perform the functions discussed hereinthroughout. A memory 212 maystore data and program codes for mobile device 104.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a system 300 according to embodiments ofthe present invention. The system 300 comprises one or more chargingstations 110, server 106 and data store 108. In certain embodiments ofthe present invention, the server 106 performs the tasks of providingcharging station information to the mobile device. This charging stationinformation may include geographical locations and/or directions to oneor more respective charging stations and registered businesses in whichthese charging stations are housed or otherwise associated. Thischarging station information may also include advertisements or othertypes of information related to the associated businesses. This chargingstation information, among other types of information, is stored in oneof the various databases 302-310 in data store 108. It should be notedthat the various databases 302-310 shown in data store 108 may beorganized as separate databases, portions of a single database, or byany other logical structure appropriate for storing the data.

Of course, the skilled artisan will appreciate, in light of thedisclosure herein, that information and data may also be stored locallyat a locker/kiosk/station. Thereby, a user may be enabled to obtain herphone even if power is lost or the network connection of thelocker/station goes down. In the case of a power outage, an alternativeembodiment may include a UPS (universal power supply) that provides upto 45 minutes of battery backup as an added security measure that allowscustomers to interact with the kiosk when power is out for short periodsof time. Moreover, in order to provide enhanced security in the instantinvention, this locally stored information may be periodically purged,such as when a phone is obtained, or daily or weekly.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, data store 108 stores user information in userdatabase 302. This information may include email addresses, phonenumbers, user photos, survey responses, duration of charge, and thelike.

A map database 304 may also be included. This database 304 may providethe background maps that are displayed on each user's mobile device andthat correspond to an area or region around the user at the time theapplication is invoked (i.e., when the user's mobile device battery islow). For example, a map tile of the United States may provide an imageof the continental U.S. that can be zoomed to display a regional streetlevel map for any area in the U.S. The map may further be zoomed todisplay locations within a venue housing a collection of businesses. Forexample, a user may be located within a mall, and the application may beinvoked due to his mobile device battery being low. The mobile devicemay display locations of retail stores within the mall which houseavailable charging stations to charge the user's mobile device, eitherupon zooming in on the application by the user, or by a predeterminedsetting for displaying a location.

A location database 306 may store geographic locations of chargingstations and/or geographic locations of mobile devices 104 and/orclusters thereof. A charging station database 308 may store the currentstatus of available lockers within any charging stations. This statusmay include a number of lockers of a particular charging station notcurrently in use, or, available, for charging. The data store 108 mayalso comprise a registered business database 310, which may storeinformation related to businesses currently registered with the chargingsystem according to embodiments of the present invention. For example,the business database 310 may include approved advertisements, orassociated content describing respective registered businesses. FIG. 4Aillustrates a mobile device charging station 110 according toembodiments of the present invention. This station 110 may be located ina retail store, mall, hospital, stadium, casino, building lobby, or anyother location suitable for accessibility. In FIG. 4B, station 110includes a housing 402 mounted on a support 404. Embodiments may alsoinclude, on a face of the charging station 110, branding or advertisingspace 409 for a registered business to provide information about itsbusiness, which may include, by non-limiting example, advertisements,coupons, or any other suitable content related to its business. Eachhousing 402 may comprise one or more lockers 407, preferably havingresident therein supplied power, such as a plurality of charging cordsor other wireless charging options, such as supplied power havingdifferent plugs, power mats, or like proprietary or third party chargingformats for mating to different mobile devices, such as USB plugs,micro-USB, mini-USB or USB-C plugs, laptop tip plugs, and/or one or moreproprietary plugs, such as plugs for an iPhone 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and soon. Of course, any other charging plugs that presently exist or aresubsequently developed may be included, as well as any other current orsubsequent charging methodologies, such as charging mats, wirelesscharging, etc. It should be understood that housing 402, support 404,locker 407, and branding space 409 may have any desired dimension orconfiguration, depending, at least in part, on the particular locationof the station 110, and that the overall design of station 110 shown inFIG. 4A is for exemplary purposes only.

By way of example, charging stations may comprise eight lockers, eachwith multi-use charging cables, and/or multiple different chargingcables, there within. The lockers may reside in a structure formed of asuitably durable composition, such as metal, acrylic, plastics or other,and combinations thereof. For example, the door of a charging locker mayallow for the user to see inside the locker, but may be formed of acombination or metal or other, and/or an acrylic panel that canwithstand forces up to or exceeding, by way of non-limiting example,10,000 psi.

Of course, a durable cabinet construction may allow for usage in avariety of environments, and the durable construction may be formedaccordingly, such as by metal treated with rust proofing. In addition,other measures may be taken for kiosks for use in outdoor environmentssuch as gasketing, heating and ventilation systems, etc. Moreover, thedurable housing may house there within a variety of other features, suchas antennas, PCBs, and the like, as referenced herein throughout.Alternatively, antennas may be placed atop, behind, or alongside inphysical association with a cabinet. In preferred embodiments, theantennas and associated or alternative hardware may be suitable tocommunicate and/or connect to a network, such as a local or globalnetwork, such as the Internet, using any of a variety of differentcommunication methodologies dependent upon the context in which thecabinet is placed, such as using 4G LTE, 3G, a wide area network, alocal area network, or the like. Moreover, multiple different antennasmay provide this functionality, where a single antenna may providemultiple different functionalities for communication purposes.Accordingly, and dependent in part on location, communication speeds maybe optimized by software or firmware algorithms within the cabinet, orremotely by an administrator, by way of non-limiting example.

Additionally, in the event the lockers can be at least partiallytransparent to a user, other features may be added within eachindividual charging locker, such as multi-color LEDs or blinking LEDs,also as referenced herein. These additional features may be controlledlocally or remotely, such as to provide optionality correspondent totime of year, i.e., Christmas lights, branding of the unit, whether ornot a locker is in use (i.e., a red light may mean that locker is inuse), and the like.

Different mechanisms may be mounted on or associated with the housing402 to enable a user to access, lock, and subsequently unlock anindividual locker 407 for charging his mobile device 104. For example,the locking mechanism associated with a charging locker, such as inorder to provide optimal security, may be break proof or resistant, suchas withstanding up to or in excess of 1,000 pounds of force beforeyielding.

Referring to FIG. 4A, another mechanism, such as a bar code scanner orcard or key FOB reader, and/or a display 408, such as a touch screendisplay (which may also display ads, coupons, codes and/or other aspectsreferenced herein), and/or a keypad 406 mounted to the housing 402, mayallow for the collection of more user information. Coupled with adisplay 408 and microcontroller (not shown) connected to an electronic,keyless lock 413 (FIG. 4C), a user may be provided with instructions andoptions for charging his or her mobile device 104. For example, thelocker 407 may be preprogrammed by the microcontroller (not shown) toaccept a selected sequence or information entry by a new user when theelectronic lock is unlatched (i.e. the locker 407 is open). Themicrocontroller (not shown) may be configured to accept the samesequence or information first entered by the user causing the lock tounlatch, allowing the user to remove his phone from the locker afteruse. This sequence or information may include user identifyinginformation, such as the user's telephone number, key code, pin numbers,security questions, email addresses, selection of security images,scanning of a bar code (such as on a ticket provided by the kiosk to auser when the user placed the phone in the locker), etc.

The display 408 may thus prompt the user for other identifyinginformation for the collection and subsequent storage of user shoppinginformation which may be valuable to retailers/registered businesses.For example, the display 408 may prompt the user to enter his name, atelephone number, an email address, a name and/or telephone number inconjunction with other information, such as a security “pin” having 2,3, 4, 5, 6 or more digits or such as a security image, a loyalty programidentifier, or the like.

By way of example, upon actuation of keypad 406 or touch display 408,the display may prompt the user to enter his telephone number. It shouldbe noted that other and/or additional user identifying information maybe gathered as a part of these instructions. This gathered informationmay be used to serve several purposes. One purpose may be to provideverification information that the user is, indeed, who he says he is(such as by way of comparison to registered user information for system300, by way of verification with information stored in the mobileapplication having associated therewith the aforementioned map andbattery charge level capabilities, and/or by comparison with personalinformation on or associated with the mobile device. Another purpose isto ensure that only the user (or, an individual authorized by the user)is able to access the mobile device 104 from the locker 407 after themobile device has been locked in the given locker 407. Yet further andas mentioned above, another purpose for the prompted user identifyinginformation is to gather information about the user's shopping habitsand/or frequented registered businesses, and/or other information asdescribed hereinthroughout, which may be subsequently stored in userdatabase 302 (as shown in FIG. 3).

The embodiments may thus include one or more remote, or local, datawarehouses/databases 302. The data warehouse may include userinformation as discussed above and throughout, and/or may comprisereports, calculations, and the like, run over a predetermined timeperiod in association with a kiosk or a group of kiosks, such as onceper day. The data in the data warehouse may be segregated by user, usertype, brand, group, and so on. For example, phone numbers and emails maybe indicative of uniquely personal identifying information, and as suchmay be segregated by brand or group to which the user is willing toallow that information to be provided. Needless to say, this may provideenhanced security of use to users.

Also, as a security feature, the display 408 may display an image ofwhich a user has previously selected upon initially accessing anavailable locker. For example, the user may enter a telephone number,and then either select or be shown an image, such as a black dog. Uponreturning to unlock the locker, the user may be prompted to enter hisphone number, and then to select the appropriate image that matches thepreselected image in order to unlock the locker.

In the known art, codes or magnetic stripe readers are often used tosecurely identify customers. However, codes may be stolen, or magneticstripe pre-readers used to steal magnetic strip encoding. Consequently,the security images employed in the embodiments are universal, as shownin FIGS. 5A and 5B, thus presenting no language barrier, and may also bemore secure than, or when used in conjunction with, either codes ormagnetic stripe readers for the reasons discussed throughout.

More particularly, the multilingual nature, provided, in part, throughthe disclosed security images, of the disclosed kiosk allows forautomated interaction from the kiosk with the user. As such, the kioskmay communicate automatically with the user, such as using preordainedscripts for certain circumstances, using any language selected by theuser. For example, a user may select French as their preferred language,and if, upon attempting to obtain a charging phone, the user were to getlocked out, the automated call to customer service for the lockout mayoccur, as indicated to the user on the touch screen, in French. ThePhotoVerification review may be consistently textually, audibly orvisually presented to the user in French, even in circumstances wherethe user's reply is provided in French, but customer service speaks onlyEnglish. In such a case, the system disclosed may translate the user'sFrench response into English upon providing that response to customerservice. Likewise, the call center may provide a response to the user inEnglish, which may be automatically translated to French upon visualand/or audible presentation to the user.

It should be noted that any suitable type of user interface may beprovided. For example, the user interface may be a part of a display408, such as the aforementioned touch screen liquid crystal display(LCD), and/or may include a display and a separate or discrete keypad406. Moreover, it should be noted that any known methodologies of dataentry may be employed, alone or in combination, including but notlimited to a credit card or driver's license swipe, telephone number orother data entry to a keypad, a bar code or QR code scan, a loyaltyprogram card or informational scan, a near field communication scan, ora biometric scan, such as a fingerprint scan, for example.

The touch screen referenced throughout may have a multiplicity of usesand communication linkages. For example, the embodiments may facilitateany type of sign-up for any type of offering via the kiosk touch screendiscussed herein. For example, the touch screen protocols may be linkedto an external webpage, wherein data is passed directly to the externalwebpage, or the touch screen protocols and algorithms may be activelyassociated with a partner system, such as by an API, wherein data may becaptured by the touch screen and relayed to the partner. Availablesign-ups may include credit card sign ups, utility company sign ups,solar panel sign ups, loyalty program sign ups as shown in FIGS. 6A-6G,and so on. Further, upon sign-up, temporary membership identifiers, suchas temporary membership cards, may be provided to the user signing up,such as printing a “hard” card, or providing a virtual card via SMS orthrough the use of the app discussed herein.

In certain embodiments, upon entry of a telephone number, for example,the user may receive a SMS or MMS message (by way of non-limitingexample) containing further information, as discussed throughout. Forexample, the user may receive promotional information, such as may beused upon reaching a business at which resides the charging units, andsuch as is discussed in detail immediately above. The user may alsoreceive a call to action, such as to download a mobile app, go to awebsite, enter a contest, receive a coupon, or the like. Of course, thepresent invention may employ known technologies to track responses tosuch calls to action.

An exemplary auxiliary mechanism which may be employed for accessing andusing the charging station 110, and/or for accumulating additional userinformation or security, is a supplemental aspect of user interface 408,such as a card reader (not shown). The card reader (shown in 406 on FIG.4A) may accept any card identifying a particular mobile device user. Thecard reader may be configured to accept a user credit card, a driver'slicense, or a consumer card issued by a particular retailer orestablishment, such as a loyalty card, by way of non-limiting example.

For example, users may choose to enroll in user loyalty programs usingthe disclosed embodiments, either of the kiosk provider or of othercommercial entities, or users may already be members of loyalty programsprior to using a kiosk. Users may choose to enroll via the chargingkiosk utilizing a graphical user interface 408 provided at the kiosk, ormay be enrolled in third party or affiliated programs that providecards, pins, QR codes, or the like, to indicate loyalty status. Theloyalty program enrollment information may be stored in conjunction withthe user information stored at the administration server, or the like,or may be uploaded or otherwise made available from a third party forassociation, such as in a database, with a charging device number at thekiosk (noting that the kiosk may include the aforementioned auxiliaryreader for loyalty cards, loyalty pins or QR codes, or the like).Further, via the graphical user interface, a user of the system mayparticipate in completing surveys or polls, which may or may not relateto the loyalty program. For example, users may be polled, such as by acasino, as to, if they were to win a prize from a slot machine, whatprize would they like to win.

In certain embodiments, and such in order to use the free chargingservice, the user may be asked to complete one or more surveys on thetouchscreen. For example, a survey may be presented to the user onbehalf of a single or multiple sponsors/clients/kiosk providers who arepaying to receive customer information in exchange for value, such as inexchange for a location providing charging kiosk access to its customerbase. By way of nonlimiting example, the location or venue may therebyhave access to the charging station at no charge or reduced charge.

In preferred embodiments, before the start of the charging process, suchas prior to the automated opening of the door to a charging locker, theuser may be asked to take a survey, such as is shown in FIGS. 7A-7L, inorder to obtain the charging for free, or for some predetermineddiscounted amount. Surveys may be provided in a variety of formats, andmay be provided as “integrated” surveys, wherein the presentation of thesurvey is an aspect of the artificial intelligence/adjustable logicalgorithms integrated with the charging process; or “unintegrated”surveys, wherein the charging station calls out to the cloud, such as tothird party domain, in order to obtain the survey or the survey logic.In short, the survey logic may include a steady state flow of apredetermined series of questions, or may vary the questions, questioncontent, question type, or the like, based on a user's input orresponses to questions. Further, the integrated nature of the surveylogic may vary based on the responses, such as wherein, if a user answeris yes to a given question, the survey converts from a non-integratedremote logic to a local logic.

Further, not only may the integration level of the survey algorithmvary, but the types of question may vary, such as betweenmultiple-choice, free-form text, rating scale (e.g., 1-10), conditionallogic (e.g., disqualify respondents under a certain age, or having otherparticular characteristics), visual versus text (i.e., selection of animage or images), and so on. Of note, surveys may be steady state, suchas a series of multiple-choice questions, or may, preferably be highlyvariable, such as in order to maintain user interest across multiplecharging events. Correspondingly, surveys, provided through the use ofthe disclosed kiosk and kiosk system may likewise be multilingual.

In an exemplary embodiment and by way of non-limiting example, surveysmay be implemented by institution of an API to a platform that deliverssurveys on line and or to mobile apps. The API may be a dedicated, API,such as for a particular platform, or may be a multi-platform API whichoffers alternative survey platforms. Thereafter, when the user beginsthe charging process, the user may be presented with a screen thatinforms the user that she will be asked to take a survey in order tocharge her phone for free, and the user may be asked to affirmativelyrespond in order to continue the charging process. If the user agrees,such as by pressing continue, she is then prompted to enter the mobilephone number, and/or other information, such as an email address andselection of a security image. As discussed herein, the charging kioskmay then call out to a nonintegrated survey URL and present the surveyto the user prior to allowing the user to select a charging locker doorto open.

Of note, surveys may present any number or type or format of questions.Surveys may be sponsored or unsponsored, such as wherein surveys aresponsored by third-party research companies to obtain research on topicsranging from food delivery to health concerns to movie preferences andso on. In preferred embodiments, the user must complete the surveybefore selecting a charging locker door. If the user abandons thesurvey, the screen may timeout and/or otherwise return to a main screen.If the same user returns in an attempt to charge a mobile device, suchas may be indicated by entry of a phone number, a survey previouslypresented may renew at the point where the user left off. Similarly, inorder to maintain user interest the same survey may not be presented toa user multiple times, such as may be tracked using a mobile phonenumber or other identifier, such as a loyalty card, or the like.

A survey may be optional or mandatory. Moreover, not only may the surveybe presented in real time at the charging kiosk, but further, a surveymay be presented to the user via a follow-up link, such as may bepresented in an SMS, email, or the like. As referenced, survey logic maybe local and/or integrated, and/or remote or unintegrated. As such,survey response data may be housed in an integrated system, or at athird-party system. As such, data may be delivered to a third party, asurvey requester, or any other entity, and may be delivered directly,such as by an API integration, or may be housed/stored in an integratedmanner and extracted by a client. Surveys may be employed to obtaininformation of interest from third parties, such as research companies,but may also be delivered by the charging service provider in order togain user information, such as customer demographics. Survey results maybe gathered and/or housed in substantially real time, such as to allowresponse or follow-up to occur on the site, such as manually by aclipboard operator.

In a survey, the user may be asked a series of questions (up to 20, byway of non-limiting example) in exchange for having access to a freephone charge. The survey may be configurable, optional or mandatory inthe system. For example, users may have the option to take the surveyafter they lock up their phone (and/or close the door), or users may bepresented the survey when they come back to get their phone after theyenter their mobile number and security credentials. Moreover, there mayor may not be a limit on the number of times that the same user can takea specific survey, for example. Yet further, multiple surveys may beavailable on the same kiosk, and may or may not be offered to some orthe same users on subsequent visits. That is, some users, or the sameuser on a subsequent visit, may receive different surveys or no surveyat all. It will also be appreciated by the skilled artisan that the userwould always have the ability to opt-out of the survey by choosing notto charge their phone.

In a manner similar to the presentation of surveys, the charging kioskmay be used to recruit prospective survey participants. For example, acharging user may be presented with a screen prior to beginning thecharging process asking the user if she would be interested in taking afuture survey, such as with or without being paid to do so. If the useragrees, the user's phone number and/or email may be passed to thirdparty survey company such that the survey company may follow up in thefuture to enroll the user as a potential survey participant. Needless tosay, and as is the case with the surveys discussed throughout, users maybe excluded from participation based on any number of factors, such asage or demographics. Moreover, the empaneling of survey participants maybe in relation to a single survey over a given time period, a single ormultiple surveys over an indefinite time period, or multiple surveysover a particular time period, by way of nonlimiting example.

Moreover, and to the extent data is obtained by an integrated surveysystem within the charging system, logic, customer profiles anddemographics may be relationally obtained by the systems disclosedherein. Thereafter, this integrated database, such as the data warehouseand database(s) 302 discussed throughout, may be used to selectparticipants pursuant to request from third party survey providers. Forexample, an integrated database of customer demographic informationallows for prequalification of participants for a survey, prioritizationof specific questions to particular groups of people (e.g., males, aged30 to 45), the tying of device types to survey participation, such as toallow brands or marketers to target messaging that may or may not beoptimized by device, type, and/or the linking of survey results to alocation or location type (i.e., a mall, a specialty retailer, and soon).

Accordingly, survey data and/or additional user data, such askiosk-entered data, app-profile data, and so on, may be appended tokiosk provider databases and/or clients'/sponsors' databases, such as tocreate a richer customer profile and/or to accumulate market research.Accordingly, survey questions may include demographic information suchas gender, race, income level and the like, and/or may also includelifestyle preferences such as hobbies, favorite travel destinations,shopping locations and the like.

This enriched profile and/or enhanced market research may enhance theadoption of kiosks by location providers. For example, a mall customerpresently paying a monthly fee for 1 kiosk may expand to 4 kiosksbecause the additional kiosk costs are partially or fully paid for bythe survey provider.

In preferred embodiments, card reading or bar code scanning associatedwith the kiosk may be for identification and/or data accumulationpurposes, and may or may not be for the purposes of charging the user afee for usage of the charging station. For example, the card reader (asreferenced above) may comprise a magnetic card reader, which, uponswiping the user's card on the reader may read the information containedon a magnetic stripe located on the user's card, enabling the chargingstation to gather and process user identification information, such asfor secure access by the user to his device after charging, and/or toaccumulate information about the user, such as shopping habits of theuser, which, as mentioned above, may be stored by user database 302.

Furthermore, data gained through the use of the method and system of thepresent invention may be associated with the additional or auxiliarydata, such as from the aforementioned card reader. The card reader mayallow for a user to use a free or discounted pass, a frequent users'card, a loyalty card associated with a kiosk sponsor, or the like.Accordingly, a large variety of data may be captured and associated withthe auxiliary informational items, such as the cell phone number of theuser, etc. Such data may include durations at particular locations, suchas restaurants or retail, typical charging start times, typical chargingend times, most frequently used kiosks, most frequently used lockers,percent capacity of usage, frequently used charging types andcorrespondingly phone types, or the like. By way of example, the controlboard discussed herein may receive information about which chargingcable is in use in each locker, and may thereby receive informationabout what type of phone is charging or what type of phone is associatedwith a particular phone number. This may allow, such as in conjunctionwith loyalty information of, for example, a casino loyalty program, forthe inference of demographic or social information, such as in relationto a particular retail establishment, or the like.

FIG. 4C illustrates an example of an open locker of the charging station110 of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, multipleinterfaces and/or universal interfaces 410 may be located inside eachlocker 407 provided for recharging a given mobile device 411. Eachinterface 410 may be a unique type of charging interface, may bededicated for a particular make or model of mobile device, or may be auniversal charging interface.

In at least one embodiment, in reference to FIGS. 4D and 4E, there isprovided a PhotoVerification process of a user of the system (i.e.kiosk). As used herein, PhotoVerification is a process whereby acustomer photo or similar biometric (such as facial recognition,fingerprint, retinal scan, voice recognition, etc.) is taken at theinception of a charging session, and wherein, when a user attempts toretrieve the charged device, the photo/biometric is compared, such asautomatically or manually, to the biometric at inception in order todecide whether to release the charged device.

If a user's initial or subsequent security credentials are incorrect(i.e. “First Attempt Incorrect,” “Second Attempt Incorrect”, etc.), thenthe kiosk may automatically or manually “escalate” the retrievalsecurity. Needless to say, the user may be precluded from trying anindefinite number of times to enter security credentials, such aswherein, after X number of tries (such as 3 tries), the system is“locked” and each time the user enters the same mobile number (orloyalty number, etc.), the screen may automatically further escalate,such as to a PhotoVerification process.

Further, for example, the kiosk may use a series of photos and/or acellular, landline, and/or voice over IP conversation directly with theuser (such as by a customer service representative) to manually and/orvia facial recognition software verify the user's identity (“PleaseWait, We Are Using Surveillance Records To Verify Your Identity”). If amatch is determined to be made (“Match Verified?”), either via manual orautomated check, then the user may receive a success screen and theprocess continues to FIG. 4F. If a match is not made, then the processmay proceed to an Offline process, a more extensive customer serviceinteraction, or locked state, until a successful verification (photo orotherwise) or a manual unlock process is performed. If the customerservice representative does not respond within a specified period oftime, the PhotoVerification will timeout, thereby making the kioskavailable for use by another customer.

FIG. 4F is a flow diagram illustrating combinations of the foregoingaspects. In short, the flow diagram illustrates various methodologieswhereby a charged device may be obtained by the owner of the device,including the use of a PhotoVerification in the event of a lockout froma locker.

The kiosk may include various other hardware and/or software and/orfirmware under the control of the kiosk control board referenced herein,and which may be employed in conjunction with the PhotoVerificationprocess. By way of example, the kiosk may include the user interactionscreen discussed herein, such as a touch screen akin to those employedat automated teller machines, as well as a camera proximate to, such asabove, the user interaction screen, under the control of a controlboard. Accordingly, a user's first interaction with the kiosk may bewith the screen while standing in front of the camera, thereby thecamera may take a series of images, video, audio, or the like, of theuser placing the phone into a locker and/or interacting with the screen.

Confirmation of user identity, for example, may occur via remote accessto the server, such as with the kiosk initiating all requests to theserver. In short, this provides a security feature in that the servercannot push information (such as new configurations, software updates,restart commands, etc.) to the kiosk, but rather the kiosk periodically“pings” the server for information.

The foregoing may be due to a master-slave relationship between theserver and kiosk. That is, the kiosk may be programmed to ONLY be ableto communicate with one master, i.e., the server. This securityprecaution prevents a hack that tunnels into the kiosk from anothersource, such that the kiosk may be disabled to communicate or accept anycommands. This is further buttressed in exemplary embodiments in whichkiosks cannot “talk” to each other.

Thus, confirmation may be available at a later point, such as via thecamera, that the same user is attempting to retrieve the phone as hadinitially placed the phone into the locker. In this manner, by way ofnon-limiting example, a user who has been locked out from retrieving hisor her phone may be able to readily confirm with customer service thathe or she should be able to retrieve the phone. Upon such confirmationusing, at least in part, the camera, a remote customer servicerepresentative may, for example, open a locker, ask security questions,or the like.

This security may be enhanced by any known method. For example, securitymay be enhanced by allowing a user to pick, such as on theaforementioned screen, a secondary security image that the user may haveto reselect as a security measure, or security measures may include PINcodes or the like in association with the user having entered his or herphone number in order to access the kiosk in the first instance.Moreover, the use of security images may additionally provide a brandingor advertising opportunity, such as wherein various security images areprovided to a user to select from that are representative of endorsersof the brand with which the kiosk is branded.

In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplary disclosed systemfor verifying the identity of a user may include a door that selectivelyopens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes to block accessto the cavity; a lock configured to selectively lock and unlock the doorwhen the door is closed; a camera configured to image a user areaadjacent to the door; computing memory having associated therewith code;and a processor communicatively coupled with the computing memory,configured to execute the code and to control the camera to record afirst image data of the user area at a first time; store the first imagedata; control the camera to record a second image data of the user areaat a second time; and selectively unlock the door based on comparing thesecond image data to the first image data. Comparing the second imagedata to the first image data may include transmitting the first andsecond image data to a remotely-located device and subsequentlyreceiving an operator data from the remotely-located device.Transmitting the first and second image data to the remotely-locateddevice may occur after the user in the user area inputs incorrect inputdata. The door may be unlocked when the first image data defines a firstset of images of the user in the user area at the first time and thesecond image data defines a second set of images of the user in the userarea at the second time. The door may be maintained in a locked statewhen the first image data defines a first set of images of the user inthe user area at the first time and the second image data defines asecond set of images of a different user in the user area at the secondtime. The lock may lock the door at the first time. Comparing the secondimage data to the first image data may include using facial recognitionsoftware. The operator data may be visually or audibly presented to theuser in the user area. The operator data may be selected from the groupconsisting of a security question and a security instruction instructingthe user to remove a hat or change position in the user area. Theincorrect input data may be selected from the group consisting of anincorrect security image selection and or incorrect PIN code. Forexample, if the image data (e.g., photos) do not match, an operator mayuse another technique to verify an image data match. In at least someexemplary embodiments, the technique may include asking a user (e.g., acustomer) located in front of a station or a kiosk for additionalinformation or photos. For example, the technique may include pushing ascreen to the user interface (e.g., providing an on-screen displayrequesting additional information), speaking to the user via an audiodevice (e.g., speaker and/or microphone) disposed at the station orkiosk (e.g., using VPN, VOIP, or other telephony method), calling theuser on a phone in the store (e.g., or a contact's or friend's phone),or any other suitable technique. The communication between the operatorand user may involve any suitable verification information or action.For example, using the exemplary disclosed communication techniques, theoperator may request the user to remove a hat, request the user toprovide information such as the user's type of device or phone, a timethe user's device was dropped off, a user's alternate contact number orinformation, and/or any other suitable type of verification information.

In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplary disclosed methodmay include providing a door that selectively opens to allow access to acavity and selectively closes to block access to the cavity; using alock to selectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed;using a camera to image a user area adjacent to the door; providingcomputing memory having associated therewith code and a processorcommunicatively coupled with the computing memory to execute the code;controlling the camera to record a first image data of the user area ata first time; storing the first image data; locking the door;controlling the camera to record a second image data of the user area ata second time; and selectively unlocking the door based on comparing thesecond image data to the first image data. Comparing the second imagedata to the first image data may include transmitting the first andsecond image data to a remotely-located device and subsequentlyreceiving an operator data from the remotely-located device.Transmitting the first and second image data to the remotely-locateddevice may occur after a user in the user area inputs an incorrectsecurity image selection data or an incorrect PIN code data. Selectivelyunlocking the door may include unlocking the door when the first imagedata defines a first set of images of a user in the user area at thefirst time and the second image data defines a second set of images ofthe user in the user area at the second time. The processor may maintainthe door in a locked state when the first image data defines a first setof images of a user in the user area at the first time and the secondimage data defines a second set of images of a different user in theuser area at the second time. The operator data may be visually oraudibly presented to a user in the user area. The operator data may beselected from the group consisting of a security question and a securityinstruction instructing a user in the user area to remove a hat orchange position in the user area.

In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplary disclosed systemmay include a door that selectively opens to allow access to a cavityand selectively closes to block access to the cavity; a lock configuredto selectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed; acamera configured to image a user area adjacent to the door; computingmemory having associated therewith code; and a processor communicativelycoupled with the computing memory, configured to execute the code andto: control the camera to record a first image data of the user area ata first time; store the first image data; control the camera to record asecond image data of the user area at a second time; and selectivelyunlock the door based on comparing the second image data to the firstimage data. Comparing the second image data to the first image data mayinclude transmitting the first and second image data to aremotely-located device and subsequently receiving an operator data fromthe remotely-located device. Transmitting the first and second imagedata to the remotely-located device may occur after the user in the userarea inputs incorrect input data. The incorrect input data may be anincorrect security image selection or an incorrect PIN code. The doormay be unlocked when the first image data defines a first set of imagesof the user in the user area at the first time and the second image datadefines a second set of images of the user in the user area at thesecond time. The door may be maintained in a locked state when the firstimage data defines a first set of images of the user in the user area atthe first time and the second image data defines a second set of imagesof a different user in the user area at the second time. The lock maylock the door at the first time. Comparing the second image data to thefirst image data may include using facial recognition software. Theoperator data may be visually or audibly presented to the user in theuser area. The operator data may be selected from the group consistingof a security question and a security instruction instructing the userto remove a hat or change position in the user area.

The exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process and system may includea photo comparison module. For example as illustrated in FIGS. 4I and4J, the exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process and system mayinclude a functionality (e.g., graphical user interface functionalitysuch as a software functionality) and a screen layout that may provide asystem operator with a comparison module. For example, the exemplarydisclosed PhotoVerification process and system may provide a comparisonmodule for a system operator such as a customer service representativeor customer service team (e.g., remotely-located operator). Asillustrated in FIG. 4I, the exemplary disclosed PhotoVerificationprocess and system may display a first image (e.g., photo or video feed)and a second image (e.g., photo or video feed) adjacent to each other(e.g., side-by-side) on a user interface of a system operator. Forexample, the exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process and systemmay provide a side-by-side comparison module for use by a systemoperator. The exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process and systemmay display a first image recorded at a first time in the exemplarydisclosed user area by the exemplary disclosed camera and may alsodisplay a second image recorded at a second time in the exemplarydisclosed user area by the exemplary disclosed camera. The exemplarydisclosed PhotoVerification process and system may process the imagedata from the first time and the second time (e.g., using facialrecognition software and/or any other suitable technique for comparingdata) to compare the first image data and the second image data. Also, asystem operator may directly compare the first and second image data bycomparing the data directly using the exemplary disclosed user interface(e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 4I). Also for example, as illustrated inFIG. 4J, the exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process and systemmay provide drop-down menus, thumbnails, and any/or suitable graphicaluser interface element for facilitating comparison of image data by asystem operator. The exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process andsystem may thereby provide a user operator with an efficient andeffective process for comparing images of users to verify if the userimaged in the first image or image data (e.g., at a first time such aswhen an object such as a mobile device is stored in a locker) is thesame user as the user imaged in the second image or image data (e.g., ata second time such as when the object such as a mobile device isattempted to be removed from the locker).

The exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process and system may allow asystem operator to view images of users (e.g., to view locker photos ofcustomers) to compare image data recorded and collected at differenttimes (e.g., and/or may perform comparison processing of the image datasuch as, for example, including facial recognition processing and/oralgorithms). The exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process andsystem may thereby compare a first image data collected (e.g., photosand/or video taken) at a first time (e.g., when the locker was firstaccessed or any other desired time) to a second image data collected ata second time (e.g., photos and/or video being captured in real-time asa user attempts to retrieve a device for example with incorrectcredentials). The exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process andsystem may thereby improve a system operator's (e.g., a customer supportteam's) efficiency and accuracy.

For example as illustrated in FIGS. 4I and 4J, the exemplary disclosedPhotoVerification process and system may be accessed by a systemoperator (e.g., accessed by an operator located remotely from thestation or kiosk having the exemplary disclosed cavity) based on thesystem operator clicking any desired image, pull-down, thumbnail, orother desired element depicted on the exemplary disclosed user interface(e.g., displayed on a page illustrated on the user interface). In atleast some exemplary embodiments, a lock-out image may continuously orconstantly appear on the module displayed on the user interface. Forexample as illustrated in FIG. 4I, the lock-out image may be the imageor video depicted under “Current PV” that provides data of a userattempting to gain access to the exemplary disclosed locker. Theexemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process and system may provide the“lock-out” image data in real-time or near real-time as the user isattempting to gain access to the exemplary disclosed locker. For examplewhen a user enters incorrect security credentials, the exemplarydisclosed PhotoVerification process and system may display the“lock-out” image of the user entering incorrect security credentials inreal-time (e.g., immediately) or in near real-time to a system operator.The exemplary disclosed PhotoVerification process and system may alert asystem operator to a user entering incorrect security credentials bydisplaying and maintaining the “lock-out” image data on a systemoperator's user interface. A system operator (e.g., customer supportuser, manager, technician, or any other suitable operator) may selectone or more other images (e.g., image data collected at other timesand/or locations) to use for comparing to the “lock-out” image forexample as illustrated in FIGS. 4I and 4J and described herein. Forexample, a system operator may select from a dropdown list displayed onthe user interface and/or select a thumbnail image (e.g., imaged at anydesired time period) from the exemplary disclosed locker or location(e.g., location where the incorrect security credentials were provided).In at least some exemplary embodiments, the system operator (e.g.,customer support representative) may carousel through a set of images(e.g., a movable or selectable carousel of images or videos) using atouchscreen, arrow buttons or directional keys on a keyboard,voice-activation, and/or any other suitable techniques for manipulatinggraphical user interface elements. For example, the movable orselectable carousel may be a variable display that the user maymanipulate to display a desired image of the carousel set of images orvideos. The exemplary disclosed user interface may depict the carouselfeature in any desired manner such as, for example, a linear or circulardisplay of movable thumbnails, a pull-down, or any other suitabletechnique for allowing a user to quickly scan through several or manyimages or videos (e.g., video clips). For example, FIG. 4J illustratesan exemplary disclosed carousel feature that may reduce a possibility oferror when comparing image data (e.g., photos or video), which may inturn reduce a chance of poor user experience (e.g., an owner of a devicebeing inappropriately locked out) and/or stolen devices (e.g., a theftof stored devices).

Once the user has entered the phone number and any required additionalinformation, such as an email address, the user selects a charginglocker and it is then opened, the screen may prompt the user to connecthis or her phone for charging. An exemplary flow of the inception ofdevice charging is illustrated in FIG. 4G, and may include ADAcompliance, such as in the form of making available lower level lockersfor persons in need of such service.

Further and as referenced herein, once the phone is plugged in forcharging, an optimal charging profile may be sought, and such an optimalcharging profile may include charging rates, such as whether high levelcharging should be an initial occurrence, or should be ramped to slowly,and additionally the proper rate of ramp down of charging for optimalcharging of a particular device as discussed herein. This provision ofthe charging profile may occur by the offering, by the kiosk, of variouscharging profiles until a profile is accepted by the device.Accordingly, although there is no synchronization with the phone, theoptimal charging profile may nevertheless be obtained. The lack ofsynchronization in the disclosed embodiments is yet an additionalsecurity feature, in part because it protects: a) the data on eachindividual phone (as there is no means to pull data from the phone); b)servers from being subject to viruses carried by users' phones; and c)other users' phones from being infected by a virus-infected phone thatmight transmit a virus to the servers.

As referenced, customer service may preferably be available by the touchscreen, microphone and/or speakers 412 as shown in FIG. 4A, associatedwith the kiosk. This customer service may allow for a user to indicate aproblem with the kiosk, such as the user being locked out of retrievinghis or her phone. In exemplary embodiments discussed herein, customerservice may have a variety of methods through which to confirm thepropriety of the user's attempt to access the phone, such as via thecustomer service representative looking at pictures taken by the camerawhen the phone was placed in a locker, an assessment of the phone numberentered or any security images or PIN numbers selected or provided bythe users, charging tip type, or a series of questions asked of the userfor security purposes. Such questions/actions may include, for example,the approximate time the phone was placed in a locker, the phone numberof the phone associated with the particular locker for which access isrequested, and the ability to contact local security personnel if a userfails to properly address security when trying to retrieve a phone.Furthermore, customer service may have a variety of abilities, such asmay be provided by the network infrastructure and the kiosk controlboard, to remotely access features of the kiosk. For example, a customerservice representative may be able to open locks and/or otherwise openlockers, change lights, force onto the user screen certain information,or the like. Moreover, customer service representatives may haveparticular controls available to them in relation to the aforementionedPhotoVerification period. For example, a customer service representativemay be able to take a photo on demand of a user for comparison toearlier photos. He or she may be able to indicate to the user to pleasetake off a hat, for example, to improve the ability to compare photos,may position a user in relation to the camera to provide for a bestcomparison of photos, or the like.

Customer service representatives may additionally have access to avariety of information in relation to the kiosk, such as usage, lockersthen in use, phone numbers associated with locker, pictures taken by acamera associated with the kiosk going back in time, or the like. Muchof this same information, and additional information, may preferably beavailable to kiosk administrators, who may oversee operation of one,multiple, or many kiosks, such as associated with a given geographiclocation, a given brand's campaign, a particular data type, or the like.Such administrators may be provided with a dashboard that yields realtime access across a network of kiosks, which may include all kiosks orparticular portions of kiosks. Using this dashboard, an administratormay be able to investigate all actions over configurable time periods,may be able to schedule maintenance, may be able to oversee customerservice or the like, and needn't be at a centralized location.

In further embodiments of the invention, photo or video records of usersmay be stored remotely, such as on an administration server which may beaccessed by the customer service or administrator during thePhotoVerification process set forth herein. Further, not only may thesystem store records of end-users or customers, but it also may log allactions taken by administrative users, including login/logout time,configuration changes, tasks that are sent from server to kiosk, and thelike, and may additionally log all actions taken within the system.

The administration server securely stores the user records and makes theuser records available on an as-needed basis utilizing securecommunication lines. The processing power of a centrally located adminserver is considered far greater than the processing power of thecharging station, or kiosk, therefore the verification process time ismuch quicker and results in improved overall user satisfaction.Moreover, security is enhanced by the PhotoVerification process, such asbecause the subject data remains firewalled.

In the event that a secure connection cannot be established with theadministration server (i.e. an Internet connection is down), theauthentication process for PhotoVerification may be halted and a usermight thus be prevented from initiating the charge phone process, orfrom retrieving a device if they forgot their mobile number and securitycredentials. However, if the user correctly enters their mobile numberand security credentials while the kiosk is offline, since theinformation is stored locally on the kiosk for a short amount of time,the user would still be able to retrieve their phone.

Once a device is connected to the charging cable, charging pad, or otherwireless method of charging, the charging process may begin. A chargingnegotiation process may be undertaken, such as at the direction ofcontrol board associated with the charging station. The one or moreprinted circuit boards may provide local hardware interaction andcontrol for various features of the cabinet. By way of example, such asin an eight-locker embodiment, two locker control boards may beprovided—one for the upper four lockers control, the other for the lowerfour lockers control. This provision of multiple locker control boardsmay allow for a failsafe in the event one locker fails, i.e., thecabinet can continue to operate with the remaining lockers, or maycorrespond to different uses administratively prescribed to variousparts of the cabinet, such as in embodiments where only the lower fourcabinets are available for charging if the user requests accessibilitymode for use of the cabinet.

More specifically, devices using the offered connectors may be sensedwhen connected, and may be offered a sequence of charging profiles toidentify the most efficient charging standard for the device. In nocircumstance is data synchronized between the kiosk and the device inthis negotiation.

By way of example of this negotiation, devices being charged may varythe amount of current drawn depending on their battery level. That is,nearly empty devices may draw more current than partially chargeddevices. A kiosk may ultimately supply 3.0 A or more to one or alllockers simultaneously.

By way of additional example, because the Americans with DisabilitiesAct may necessitate that only those lockers that can be readilyphysically accessed by a user may be selected and opened by that user,selection of an ADA accessibility mode on the user screen may indicateto the control board that only the lower lockers, such as lockers fivethrough eight in an eight-locker example, may be opened for a particularuser. In addition, all buttons on the touch-screen interface are ADAcompliant.

The exemplary disclosed process and system may include ADA-complianthardware and an ADA-compliance module that may provide configurationsand/or processes that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA). In at least some exemplary embodiments, the kiosk software andhardware may provide for ADA-compliant operation of the exemplarydisclosed system.

The exemplary disclosed ADA-compliance module may operate via theexemplary disclosed user interface so that displays of the exemplarydisclosed user interface may be ADA-compliant. For example, some orsubstantially all displays (e.g., screens) of the exemplary discloseduser interface (e.g., kiosk user interface) may display or exhibit aminimum color and/or font contrast level that is appropriate forvisually-impaired users.

The exemplary disclosed system may include hardware (e.g., kioskhardware or supplemental hardware) to which visually- orauditorily-impaired users may connect their assistive technology devicesto facilitate use of the kiosk. For example, electrical outlets andelectrical connection ports may be disposed at between about 12″ andabout 60″, or between about 15″ and about 48″ above floor or groundlevel. The exemplary disclosed system may also include any suitableelectrical connectors for connection to assistive technology devicessuch as, for example, connectors including Braille descriptions,suitable tactile devices, and/or any other suitable assistive connectorsor devices. The ADA-compliance module may recognize a connection ofassistive technology devices to the exemplary disclosed system (e.g., tothe kiosk). For example based on the identification of assistivetechnology devices that are connected to the exemplary disclosed system,the ADA-compliance module may operate (e.g., via the exemplary discloseduser interface) to provide suitable display, information, options, andinstructions to a user. For example, the ADA-compliance module mayoperate (e.g., via the exemplary disclosed user interface) to tailor theuser experience to one or more connected assistive technology devicesfor example by automatically playing a series of instructionalrecordings and/or receiving tactile inputs from the exemplary disclosedsupplemental hardware of the exemplary disclosed system.

The exemplary disclosed system may include components configured toprovide ADA-compliance. For example, the exemplary disclosed system(e.g., components of the system) may be wall-mounted or placed on atable-top or other suitable surface. For example, the exemplarydisclosed system may include a charging station that may include awall-mounted display and/or a table top or may be a freestanding kioskthat may be designed to comply with ADA criteria to facilitatewheelchair accessibility. For example, the exemplary disclosed systemmay be configured so that an individual seated in a wheelchair may reachsubstantially all touchable areas of the exemplary disclosed userinterface (e.g., substantially all buttons on a screen of the userinterface). Also for example, the exemplary disclosed system may beconfigured so that the system is wheelchair accessible (e.g., the kioskmay be installed at a location that is accessible by wheelchair). Alsofor example, the exemplary disclosed system may include a kiosk that maybe installed at a location that is suitable (e.g., not a safety hazard)for visually-impaired individuals who may navigate the kiosk using acane.

The control board may also provide various other functionality, such ascharging control, kiosk remote interaction, control of the LEDs or addedfeatures, control of the user interaction screen and cameras, and so on.The board may additionally have software or firmware resident thereonthat provides optimization functionality, such as by interaction throughthe aforementioned charging cables. By way of non-limiting example, theboard may be comprised of firmware that controls the offered chargingprofile to the connected phone, and the phone accepts its optimalprofile.

As a non-limiting example, the charging board may be pre-programmed withinformation pertinent to various charging profiles, or may retrieve theinformation from an external server. Based on this information, thecharging process can provide the optimal amount of current to bestcharge the phone.

More specifically, the optimized charging process may be provided by theboard, as discussed throughout. In sum, the disclosed exemplaryembodiments provide that a phone may accept only the highest amperagefor charging that the phone can handle without degradation. Accordingly,under the control of the aforementioned control board, the kioskcharging cables in the exemplary embodiments may offer various powerprofiles to the phone and allow the phone to draw optimally at aparticular power profile, thereby indicating that power profile to bethe proper one for optimal charging of the phone. Moreover, availableoptimal charging profiles provided by the kiosk control board mayinclude a default profile, such as the lowest charging profileacceptable to all phones, i.e., a laptop phone charging profile of 500mA. Thereby, the phone may be charged using a default profile, which istypically the lowest profile available, if none of the other profilesare accepted by the phone.

In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplary disclosed systemmay include a cable tester. For example, the exemplary disclosed systemmay include a consistent technique to test the exemplary discloseduniversal interfaces 410 (e.g., charging cables) across a plurality ofstations or kiosks (e.g., across the fleet of interconnected chargingstations in the field). Consistently using one type of cable tester mayavoid inconsistent reporting due to operators (e.g., field technicians)using their personal cable testing devices (e.g., different devices).For example, different cable testing devices and techniques may haveunsuitable deviation or lack of precision in charging cable test resultsbased on factors such as battery percentage, type of phone (e.g., typeof cable and/or cable testing device), and other criteria. Accordingly,the exemplary disclosed system and process may include operators using asingle type of cable testing device and/or cable testing process (e.g.,a same or similar technique) for some or substantially all chargingcable testing performed by operators such as field technicians. Forexample, the owner or operator of the exemplary disclosed system mayinclude a customized cable testing device design and testing techniquethat consistently tests charging cables across a plurality of stationsor kiosks of the exemplary disclosed system (e.g., that may bedistributed to some or all operators such as to a global team of fieldtechnicians). In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplarydisclosed charging cable testing device may be a handheld charging cabletesting device. The exemplary disclosed charging cable testing deviceand process may thereby provide substantially consistent testing resultsthat may not vary or deviate from each other because they may avoidusing variable types of testing devices and/or techniques. The exemplarydisclosed system may thereby reduce or substantially preventinappropriate replacement of suitably operational cables and/or mayavoid excessive costs for replacement parts. The exemplary disclosedsystem may also identify and remove from circulation unsuitable cablesthat may not provide sufficient charge (and/or that may result in a lessthan favorable user experience) in a quick, efficient, and consistentmanner.

Further in relation to the physicality of the electronics and hardwareassociated with a kiosk, in typical known kiosk style embodiments, areal estate-style hardware key—based model is employed, wherein alockbox having a code associated therewith includes there within a keyto unlock some aspect of the kiosk. However, once the lock code is givenout, such as to a technician or employee, that person forever has accessto the key resident within the lockbox. Further, if the key is removedfrom the lockbox, it can be duplicated or stolen. Moreover, it is oftenthe case that the same key is used across multiple kiosks. Yet further,a hardware lockbox may be “hacked”, such as wherein a lockbox code ischanged by a skilled artisan, such as a locksmith. Finally, without thealgorithms or artificial intelligence that may be provided by software,there is no means of recording or tracking who it is that is entering akiosk through the use of a code or a key.

Therefore, the instant embodiments, as illustrated in the example ofFIG. 21, may eliminate keyed locks and single perpetual key codes toenter a kiosk, in part by providing a system comprised of a keypad,control board, electronic lock, and power supply and/or a batterybackup, which may communicate over 4G LTE (by way of example), such asto the servers, and which may communicate to a master board locally.More particularly, an electronic keypad lock 3102 may have a dedicatedcontroller board 3104 to interact with the “master” kiosk boarddiscussed above, or may be provide as part of a kiosk's on-boardcomputer. The keypad lock may be remotely programmable, and codes may beissued remotely (or locally), such as from an administrative randomizeddatabase 3106. Accordingly, an electronic code suitable to operate theelectronic lock may be issued from a remote administrator, and may beused only for a single use, a particular number of multi-uses, or over apredetermined timeframe, or for a specific kiosk or group of kiosks, byway of nonlimiting example. Additionally and alternatively, codes may becached locally in the memory of the computing system on board the kiosk,and such codes may also be single or multiuse. In such embodiments, thecodes may be stored on the memory in association with the board attachedto the keypad, such that the door may be opened even if the kiosk isoff-line or operating only on onboard battery power. That is, a batterybackup may be included in the kiosk such that the door may be openedusing a locally cached code if the power goes out. Upon use, or afterthe expiration of a predetermined timeframe, a new code may be issued.

As referenced, codes may be assigned via the remote servers discussedthroughout, and may be monitored remotely or downloaded locally foroperations, as discussed above. Thus, codes may be changed, revoked,issued, or reissued at any time, either automatically or manually, andlocally or remotely. Codes may be assigned by a random generator, by wayof nonlimiting example.

Codes may be assigned manually or automatically, as referenced above,and may be downloaded from a manual or automated administrator to acode-user either by push, such as wherein the codes are automaticallysent to, for example, a secure app associated with a mobile device 3108of an authorized user, or by pull, such as wherein an authorized unit oruser may request a code in order to open a kiosk. Accordingly, theissuer of the code, the date and time stamp of issuance, and therecipient or recipients of a code may be tracked using the embodiments.The remote manual or automated pushing of codes may require networkconductivity, such as to a remote administrative server, although, asreferenced above, codes may be batch-replenished so that sufficientnumbers of codes are always available, such as in the event of a loss ofpower. In accordance with the foregoing, employees, technicians, companyadministrators, representatives, kiosk sponsors, or the like may beissued single use or multiuse codes. Such codes may be revoked or newcodes issued in the event the authorization status of one or morerecipients of a code changes, by way of nonlimiting example. Further,codes may be region, kiosk, or user specific, such as to enhancesecurity. Codes may also be reusable or non-reusable, such as based onthe user, code issuer, use of the code for an entire brand, set ofsponsors, region, or kiosk, or status of a code. Use may be for anindefinite time period or may be time-limited. Moreover, codes sentremotely to a kiosk may be sent at regular intervals, by a specificautomated or manual push, or the like.

Accordingly, not only may the occurrence of access to a kiosk berecorded, but further, the particulars of who accessed the kiosk andwhen that access occurred may also be recorded, such as based onelectronic signatures from mobile devices at the time of access, theidentity of code recipients, and the like. Needless to say, an accessmethodology such as is discussed above may have applicability outside ofthe particular embodiments discussed above, such as for any embodimentsthat employ hardware lockboxes, keyless entry systems, tumbler-basedsystems, and so on.

During or following charging, the invention may provide a notificationprocess. The notification process may be initiated at discreet eventssuch as upon start charge, upon the completion of a device being chargedfully, etc. Users may be notified in a myriad of different ways,including, but not limited to, SMS text message, an email, or the like.Further, once placed in a locker, the phone may remain in a locker foran unlimited period of time or for a pre-determined allowable period oftime. Moreover, charging in association with particular phone numbersmay allow for tracking not only of time of use and location of use foran individual user, but additionally if no use occurs over a period oftime. For example, if a user has not charged in 30 days, a text may besent to the user's phone advertising a particular business previouslyfrequented by the user at which the user charged at a kiosk, from abrand, from a kiosk sponsor, from a particular kiosk location, or thelike. The user may be additionally provided with an advertisement, acoupon, a suggested app download, or the like, if the user fits certainuse criteria, time of use criteria, or time without use criteria.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate examples of a map displayed on a mobiledevice, such as by a mobile application associated with the disclosedsystems and methods. As shown in FIG. 9A, for example, the mobile devicehas a display screen 502. The server (not shown) may access the mobileapplication on the device, such as upon sensing by the mobileapplication on-board that battery power has fallen below thepredetermined threshold, and may cause the display of a map 504, anotification (such as to allow for subsequent display of a map), or alike-alert on the display screen 502, such as to indicate the need forcharging, and/or to recommend prospective charging kiosks.

Of course, the skilled artisan will appreciate that an assessment ofuser location in relation to a low battery threshold may vary bydevice/platform type. By way of non-limiting example:

Android Battery Low Notification Algorithm================================ Android OS notifies application batterylevel has changed IF battery Level <= minimum charge THEN Find currentdevice location FOR EACH CIS location DO IF CIS location latitude andlongitude are set THEN compute distance to CIS location from currentdevice location END IF DONE Sort CIS locations by distance from currentdevice location Take nearest CIS location IF nearest CIS locationdistance < maximum distance THEN Show low battery notification dialogEND IF END IF iOS Battery Low Notification Algorithm================================ iOS notifies application that locationregion has changed IF battery Level <= minimum charge THEN FOR EACH CISlocation DO IF CIS location latitude and longitude are set THEN computedistance to CIS location from current device location END IF DONE Sortlocations by distance from current location Take nearest location IFnearest location distance <= maximum distance THEN Show low batterynotification dialog END IF END IF

The map may populate with certain icons 506 superimposed thereon, suchas for denoting the location of certain available charging stationsand/or registered businesses having charging stations to the user,and/or how many charging units are available (if any) at a givenlocation, such as responsive to a push notification to a low-batterydevice, or such as responsive to a user search (such as by proximity,venue, city, state, zip code, etc.). By way of non-limiting exampleonly, a large upside-down “teardrop” icon may denote the location of acharging station 110 with at least one locker currently available forcharging. Also displayed on the display screen 502 may be a notificationarea 508 as shown in FIG. 9B, in which the mobile application may notifythe user that his battery power level has decreased to a predeterminedlevel, and that the battery may need to be recharged soon to maintainoperation of the mobile device. As shown, the notification area 508 maybe located above the map, by way of nonlimiting example.

However, embodiments of the present invention are not so limited, as thenotification area 508 and/or map may be of any known type, may be tiledor “windowed” in any manner, and/or may be located anywhere on thedisplay screen 502. In an embodiment of the present invention, asillustrated in FIG. 9C, the user may toggle between the map viewdiscussed herein and/or a list view of location which may more clearlyidentify the most convenient location for the user. Such a list viewmay, for example, note the distance between the user and the providedlocations and may be sorted, for example, from closest to furthest fromthe user geographically. Similarly, using traffic reporting systemsknown to those skilled in the art, the sorting may also account fortravel time due to road conditions and may sort accordingly.

Further, the configurability of the user presentation in the instantembodiments may include that the user can configure the batterypercentage level that triggers a low battery notification, and/or thedistance to the closest charging station in order for an alert to bedelivered, by way of non-limiting example.

As further illustrated in FIG. 9C, 510 ads may be served within aspectsof the GUI and may, for example, be served along with the list ofpossible charging locations. In an embodiment of the present invention,the served ad may be in the form of a banner ad. The served ad may beused to self-promote features and services provided by the presentinvention and/or may be sold to third parties. Third party ads may beassociated with one or more identified locations and may pertain to thatlocation's particular goods/services offered for sale. For example, alocation having a charging station 110 may be predominately in thebusiness of selling shoes, and, more particularly, athletic shoes, andmay pay for the delivery of an ad promoting its business and/or offeringa coupon for the purchase of shoes. Such a promotion may, for example,offer an additional discount/incentive based on use of the chargingstation 110.

Further, as referenced herein, once the app is downloaded to the user'sphone, information can be readily provided to the user associated withthat phone number, such as the pushing not only of ads, but also ofdata, an app, or the like. Moreover, an app associated with the instantinvention, the screen of the charging kiosk, or simple text message mayrequest information from one or more users, wherein that information isdesired or needed by locations, sponsors, or the like. For example,email addresses may be requested, such as an association with a retailembodiment and in order to correspond to a particular phone number.Thereby, that retail establishment may develop data regarding phonenumbers and matched email addresses of frequent shoppers at thatestablishment, whereby coupons, advertisements, or the like may beprovided to that frequent shopper.

As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, ads may also bedelivered based on location and may be dynamically delivered based onuser attributes. For example, an ad may be served according to theproximate of a user to a location where the ad may be relevant, whetheror not the relevant location and/or ad is related to a charging station110 location. Similarly, an ad may be served based on the type of phoneused by the user and/or the apps loaded thereon or browsing history. Forexample, the app of the present invention may query the bookmarks orother internet browsing activity logged on the user device and may usethat information when serving an ad.

As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, ads may bescheduled with a start and end date over a specific time period. The useof revolving and/or multiple ads may be presented to a user and may, forexample, create a user specific “playlist”. Such ads may be configuredas an attribute in any of various available programs known to theskilled artisan.

Any selection of a location, whether by selection of a graphicallypresented location, a listed location name, and/or automaticallydelivered to the user, may include a detailed map representation and/orthe option to obtain directions to the selected location, as illustratedin FIG. 9D. Information provided may also include location details,including contact information, and may allow for the sharing of thelocation information with other contacts through conventionalcommunication means, such as email and texting, for example, and throughsocial networks, such as Facebook, for example. As would be appreciatedby those skilled in the art, obtaining directions to the selectedlocation may include launching a GPS aided mapping app which may beresident on the user device, such as, for example, MapQuest or GoogleMaps, which may give “turn-by-turn” directions to the user.

According to exemplary embodiments, advertising content 510 may also beprovided to the user on the display screen 502, such as via the mobileapplication. The advertising content 510 may include instructions on howto take advantage of special offers or deals mentioned in theadvertising content 510. For example, upon reaching a charging location,the user may, either prior to recharging or upon at least partiallyrecharging his device at the participating location, show or play (e.g.,in the case of audio-based advertising content) the advertising contenton the mobile device to the cashier or other staff at the advertisedlocation, such as to obtain any advertised prices, offers or deals,and/or to be given a coupon or the like. In other embodiments, asillustrated in FIG. 9E, the mobile device user may only have to mentionthat they received advertising content 510 to receive any relevantspecial offers. In still other embodiments, the user may be given acode, such as a numeric code, a keyword or password, or other likeindicator that, once passed to a cashier or store personnel, indicatesto the store personnel that the user has indeed received a special offeron his device to use a charging station at that store. In yet furtherembodiments, upon accessing the advertisement and/or upon reaching thecharging location, a credit, such as may be accessible only in the eventof a purchase, may be added to a shopper's card, store card, creditcard, user account, or the like of that user.

Embodiments may allow for ordering and/or purchasing and/or searchingvia the disclosed kiosk, such as in relation to provided advertisements.For example, the kiosk may be communicatively integrated with a kioskvenue's database, and/or with the remote database 302 discussedthroughout. Thereby, an order may be sent, such as by SMS, to a user'sphone, whereafter the user brings the electronic “receipt” or Q.R. codefrom the SMS to obtain the ordered product. Similarly, coupons orsimilar discounts may be provided to the user through the use of thekiosk in the manner discussed above.

Additionally, in some embodiments, advertising content 510 may includean indication that the mobile device user is already heading toward, oris likely to pass, an advertised location. In other embodiments,advertising content 510 may include directions to the advertisedlocation, and/or may link to a website of the location upon accessing bythe user, for example.

Situations may arise where multiple nearby businesses may house acharging station, thus driving competition for the user's “foottraffic,” and/or for advertising content space (and/or business locationrecognition by icon 506) on the user's mobile device display screen 502.Therefore, the server (not shown) may employ a prioritization algorithmto determine which participating business or businesses gets to providean advertisement (and/or location recognition by icon 506) at any giventime and location of the user's mobile device, and/or in what orderadvertisements are listed, displayed, or preferentially listed ordisplayed. This prioritization algorithm may be based on any number offactors, which may include, for example, user shopping characteristicsand a known relation (such as a known preference) to the items of aparticipating business or business type, the relative location of theuser and participating business, the level of participation of theparticipating business in the disclosed systems and methods (e.g., thefee amounts paid to house a charging station, paid for user access viathe mobile application, paid for user data access and/or accumulation,or the like), and the like. It should be noted, however, that thesefactors should not be so limited, as the prioritization algorithm mayapply other information related to consumers or businesses to determinethe advertising content (and/or location recognition by icon 506) to bedisplayed on the display screen 502 at any given time.

As will be understood to the skilled artisan in light of the discussionherein with respect to FIGS. 9A-9E, a software developer's kit (“SDK”)may allow for any of the variety of aforementioned notifications to bemade to a mobile user in possession of a device suffering from a lowbattery. More specifically, a brand or charging provider 4100 may embedthe ChargeItSpot SDK into their mobile “app” 4101 that a user downloadsto a device. The app may communicate, such as via the cloud 4102, withChargeItSpot's Location Database 4104, by running code provided by theSDK in order to provide aspects of the functionality discussedthroughout.

By way of non-limiting example, the app 4101 may recognize that thebattery level of the phone on which the app resides is low, such as thatthe battery level has fallen below a predetermined threshold, such as20%. This may trigger a notification 4110, such as per the SDK, to theuser, such as from the brand or charging provider 4100 that the usersbattery is low and a charging station exists at a location within apreconfigured proximity of the user's device. Similarly, the app couldsimply provide a notification of the existence of a charging stationbased on an algorithm employed by the SDK within a nearby locationuser's device, based on proximity alone. This notification may bedelivered in a manner predetermined from the SDK, such as via in-appnotification, a banner notification, a push notification, one or more ofthe above, or via any other known notification means.

Of course, other predetermined triggers may be employed besides currentbattery level, such as an assessment of low battery without indicationto the user that the battery level is known; low battery once a batterythreshold is reached, regardless of current battery percentage; loss ofan additional threshold of battery level, i.e., the loss of anadditional 5% or 10% since the last notification; a periodicrecommendation to charge; periodic in-app ads as discussed above; and soon. This is further made evident by the illustration of FIG. 23.

The notification that is thus delivered may be of any suitable typeprovided to and by the SDK. For example, a low battery notification maystimulate a notification, such as in-app, of geographically proximate(such as within a predetermined geographic radius based on interactionwith the SDK) locations of the brand or charging provider at which thedevice's battery may be charged, and/or at which charging lockers areavailable, and so on. Needless to say, certain types of notificationsmay require certain permissions from the device OS, such as the use oflocation services by the app, the use of local notifications in-app orvia push notification, and/or other necessary background processingfunctionality, in the foregoing example.

Moreover, other thresholds may be set according to the SDK, and inrelation to the notifications discussed throughout. For example, if auser agrees or otherwise acts to seek out the location of the nearestbrand-owned charging location, the user may receive no additionalnotifications. However, if the user closes the notification, thenotification may be provided anew, such as with increasing frequencyafter each time the user closes the notification.

Yet further, the mobile device suffering from low battery needn't be thesame mobile device that receives the notification. By way of example,the SDK may provide for an app on a second mobile device to receive anotification based on the battery threshold on a first mobile device,wherein the first mobile device may or may not include the same app, ora second, communicative app, as the second device's app.

Furthermore, the SDK technology to provide notifications of nearbycharging stations within partner apps that may not have any of their owncharging stations. For example, an app that drives a customer into astore to redeem a coupon could also provide their users notice that acharging station is located within. Or an app that provides low batterynotifications could provide users with information on where the nearestcharging stations are located. And so on.

In accordance with one or more embodiments described herein, and withreference to FIG. 10, there is shown a methodology 600 operable by asystem according to embodiments of the present invention. It is notedthat numbers associated with the blocks of FIG. 10 do not imply aparticular order in which the corresponding steps are to be performedaccording to the method 600.

In FIG. 10, step 601 includes having location information of one or morerespective mobile devices, and charging station information. Step 603may include having the location information of one or more respectivemobile devices, and charging station information. Based on the stationlocation information and the mobile device location informationdetermining at step 605, a proximity of one or more charging stations toone or more respective mobile devices. Step 607 may include monitoring apower level of the battery of the mobile device. Step 609 may includealerting a mobile device user and providing the location information ofthe respective one or more charging stations to the mobile device. Thelocation information may be provided to the mobile device based on apower level of the battery of the mobile device decreasing to a certainpower level and/or based on a determined proximity of one or morecharging stations to the one or more mobile devices.

Further, the mobile app may provide, such as on the map, or in a list orsecondary window in conjunction with the map, an indication of one ofthe registered businesses with local charging stations available andwhich are making special offers, such as sales, coupons, targeted offersbased on the user's history (in the mobile app and/or on the device moregenerally), and/or unique deals for users of the present invention.

The aforementioned mobile app may serve to monitor a mobile devicecharge, and alert a user to a need for recharge, i.e., the disclosedmobile app may be a stand-alone mobile app for alerting a user to a lowdevice battery. The charge threshold for an alert may be predetermined,such as by being preset in the phone or app, or entered by the user, asdiscussed herein.

Once the user selects one of the registered businesses on the mobileapp, the user may seek out and/or be directed to the selected business.Upon arrival, the user may or may not be provided with advertising atthe charging station, such as by a display associated with the station.Further, the user may be asked, such as via the same display or via asecond display, to enter user information which provides security forthe user's device once placed into a charging unit. Additionally oralternatively, the charging unit may secure the device by a physicalkey.

Via any user-entered information and/or via a profile entered by theuser (such as into the mobile app), and/or via user actions, a userprofile may be created. For example, redeemed deals and special offersmade in the mobile app may be tracked by the disclosed system as anindication of user product and service preferences. The profile may bemaintained by the system discussed above, and may allow for targetedmarketing, both of the charging services discussed herein, and ofthird-party goods and services, such as those provided by the registeredbusiness and/or by other businesses. For example, geo-targeted ads maybe offered via the mobile app.

Moreover, the accumulation of user data from the mobile app and phonebattery, in conjunction with charging behavior at locations, creates anopportunity to develop user profiles. These profiles may include recencyand frequency of visits to locations, charge duration, charging tiptype, battery life by device type, by usage type, or the like. The datamay thus serve as a research tool for device manufacturers, researchersor marketers, or as a purchase tool (i.e., which device has the bestbattery life, to the extent the data is made publicly available) for auser and/or for a non-user.

In accordance with the foregoing, and as illustrated in FIG. 11, thedisclosed embodiments may provide a network, such as may be formed bythe disclosed charging stations 110, businesses (which, although shownin the figure as a “shop,” may be any type of public or privatebusiness), and mobile devices 104, and, more particularly, as betweencommunicative interconnectivity, advertisers, and user mobile apps. Inan example of the disclosed systems and methods, a user may download amobile app to his device, and may set a 20% level for batteryrecharging—meaning the user will receive an alert from the mobile apponce his phone has less than a 20% battery charge.

By way of non-limiting example, after charging his phone for the firsttime, the user may be prompted via SMS or other method to download themobile app. Further, the mobile app, and/or participation in thedisclosed systems and methods, may be free for consumers, and availablefor a monthly fee to the registered businesses. Alternatively, a fee maybe charged to consumers, or a charge to consumers may vary based onconsumer actions. For example, a user's willingness to accept/view/watchone or more advertisements or promotions may cause a modification, suchas a decrease or elimination of, any fee due from consumers for themobile app, the mobile app services, or the charging services. Moreover,the present invention may be free to some businesses, such as thosewilling to sponsor or host charging units, but may be available at a feeto other businesses.

By way of further, non-limiting example, the chargingunits/kiosks/lockers discussed throughout may be placed in a registeredbusiness subject to, for example, payment of rent. This and other coststo the charging unit provider may be recouped by charging consumers forthe services discussed, by accepting sponsorships, by acceptingadvertisements or promotions to be provided to consumers (which may befrom the registered business ultimately used by the user and/or fromother registered businesses and/or sponsors) for a fee, and the like.Additionally, payment may be received for other occurrences, such asrevenue sharing. For example, a credit card company, such as VISA, maysponsor a kiosk, and thereby the kiosk may be free to use for consumerswho swipe a VISA card. For users who do not hold a VISA card, the use ofthe unit may be free to those consumers if they agree to apply (such asconveniently through an electronic interface at the kiosk) for a VISAcard. Upon receipt of an application for a VISA card, VISA may pay a feeto the kiosk provider.

Kiosks/charging stations may be provided by any number of chargingmodels. For example, in a first model, the kiosk may be leased, such asmonthly. In such embodiments, maintenance may be provided as part of thelease, and other features, such as providing brand wrapping, may beprovided for fees. In a second embodiment, a kiosk may be sold to aclient. In such an instance, a charge may occur for any maintenance ofthe kiosk, as well as providing of other aspects, such as providing abrand wrap for the kiosk.

In yet a third model, the kiosk may be provided based on a branding orsponsorship model. In this model, a particular brand may pay to have akiosk placed at a particular location, such as a retailer, or the brandmay pay for data collected from kiosk usage. By way of nonlimitingexample, such payment may be in the form of a monthly fixed fee, orbased on data gathered through kiosk usage, or based on the number ofusers per month. The retailer may allow placement for free, or mayrequest a revenue share with the provider of the kiosk. In suchembodiments, maintenance may or may not be an additional charge to thepaying brand, and wrapping of a kiosk for advertising purposes, such ason the outer portions of the kiosk, a header panel, such as a backlitheader panel, of the kiosk, a kick plate or ad plate at the bottom ofthe kiosk, or the like, may again constitute an additional charge to thebrand payer for the kiosk.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performedwith a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with thedisclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in auser terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium, and preferably on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by ageneral purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carryor store desired program code means in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, a graphical user interface (“GUI”) of themobile app associated with the present invention may be provided throughan app which may be obtained through any convention means, such asthrough an app store, for example. Although certain features offeredthrough the GUI may be activated and/or deactivated by the user at anydesired time, the app may prompt the user to allow for location basedservices to provide the most useful user experience in relation to thefeatures described more fully herein.

The GUI may provide an indication of the charge capacity, as shown inFIG. 12, and the charge remaining in at least one battery and/or batterycell, associated with mobile device 104. The GUI may also includeindicators as to page and/or content amount and the location of the useramong such options. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, paginationof the GUI may be exemplified by the use of small circles which mayallow the user to more easily navigate between screens of the GUI.Although many forms of navigation may be used, in a preferredembodiment, the user may toggle between GUI pages by swiping to the leftand/or to the right.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, search functionality may be presented throughthe GUI and used to identify the closest charging location to the user.If, for example, there are not locations within a defined range of thesearcher, which range may be predefined or set by the user, the app maycollect that information and allow such information to be collected by athird-party administrator to inform the administrator of user desiredlocations. Similarly, such information may allow for the delivery of adsbased on the user's location and may allow for the delivery of adsoutside the network of ads related to charging locations. Furthermore, auser may select a proximity distance which may be selected from a listhaving ¼ mile, ½ mile, 1 mile, 2 miles, 5 miles, and/or 10 miles aschoices, by way of non-limiting example.

The exemplary disclosed process and system may include a safety systemhaving safety components such as, for example, gloves, styli, shields,and other suitable safety components. For example as illustrated in FIG.4C, the exemplary disclosed system may include a safety assembly 490.Safety assembly 490 may provide one or more safe and/or contactlesstechniques for users (e.g., consumers) to interact with stations orkiosks (e.g., phone charging kiosks) of the exemplary disclosed system.Safety assembly 490 may include a dispenser that may be provided on astation or kiosk housing and that may operate to dispense gloves that auser may wear while interacting with the exemplary disclosed userinterface (e.g., a touch screen). The gloves may be dispensed manuallyor automatically by safety assembly 490. For example, safety assembly490 (e.g., or the exemplary disclosed system) may include a motionsensor that detects a presence or approach of a user (e.g., or maydetect when users wave their hands), and based on this detection safetyassembly 490 may automatically dispense a glove or pair or gloves to theuser. The gloves may be single-use gloves (e.g., latex, PVC, PVA,neoprene or any other suitable type of glove for preventing atransmission of bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens), which mayprovide a contactless experience (e.g., avoid direct contact).

Safety assembly 490 may also dispense contact devices such as styli,“hooks,” or other similar contact devices similarly to the exemplarydispensing of gloves described above. A user may utilize the manually orautomatically dispensed contact devices to press buttons on theexemplary disclosed user interface of the station or kiosk (e.g.,screen) and/or to push a door (e.g., locker door) closed after a devicesuch as a user phone is connected or disconnected (e.g., to a chargingcable of the exemplary disclosed station or kiosk).

Safety assembly 490 may also include a glove, styli, and/or wastedisposal bin that may be attached or mounted to the station or kiosk toprovide an efficient and effective technique for a user (e.g., customer)to dispose of any materials used to facilitate touchless interaction.Users and/or venue operators may opt into one or more of the exemplarydisclosed components of safety assembly 490 as add-ons (e.g., viaentering input or making selections via the exemplary disclosed userinterface) to utilize to reduce the spread of germs and viruses from thekiosk at a given venue. For example, users and/or venue operators mayprovide suitable payment to have access to the exemplary disclosedcomponents of safety assembly 490 (e.g., and to pay for use of one-timeuse components of safety assembly 490) to reduce a probability ofinfection to a user or to users at a given station or kiosk located at agiven venue.

The exemplary disclosed system may also include a shield component 495disposed at any desired components, for example as illustrated at FIG.4C. Shield component 495 may be for example a shield layer. For example,shield component 495 may be disposed at the exemplary disclosed userinterface (e.g., touchscreen) and/or other touchable areas of thestation or kiosk. Shield component 495 may be an anti-pathogen shieldsuch as an anti-virus shield. For example, shield component 495 may be alayer that is mechanically attached (e.g., or magnetically attached) oradhered to surfaces of the station or kiosk. For example, shieldcomponent 495 may be formed from thin transparent or translucent (oropaque material). Shield component 495 may be formed from any suitablemetallic or plastic material. Shield component 495 may include materialsthat may prevent pathogens such as viruses and bacteria from replicatingor spreading, thereby rendering the pathogens inactive over a period oftime (e.g., with no additional cleaning involved to maintainsanitization).

The exemplary disclosed process and system may include a locationmodule. The exemplary disclosed location module may provide afunctionality for verifying location functionality (e.g., on a tool menuof an exemplary disclosed graphical user interface such as a Tools MenuPM Workflow).

The exemplary disclosed location module may provide for when operators,users, and/or clients move an exemplary disclosed kiosk to a newlocation such as, for example, a new location within a venue (e.g., asame venue). Regarding such changes in location, the exemplary disclosedlocation module may substantially prevent disadvantages such as aprecise location of a kiosk no longer being accurate in view of Internetresources or other resources (e.g., Google maps, website locators,mobile apps, and/or any other desired locator resources). For example,the exemplary disclosed location module may substantially prevent achange in location of a kiosk (e.g., being moved from a select coffeechain store to a location at an escalator, or any other move) fromresulting in kiosk customers not being able to find the kiosk, which maypotentially lower kiosk usage. The exemplary disclosed location modulemay help customers and/or technicians who service kiosks to find newlocations of kiosks that have been moved. The exemplary disclosedlocation module may provide system users and operators with anadditional and/or alternate process of being updated with changes tolocations of kiosks in addition to being informed by a customer or fieldtechnician via phone, email, and/or any other suitable technique.

The exemplary disclosed location module and process may include usingthe exemplary disclosed user interface of the kiosk such as, forexample, a Kiosk Tools Menu (e.g., special operator menu of a graphicaluser interface). The exemplary disclosed location module mayperiodically (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, at each service time,and/or any other desired time period) query a field technician who isservicing the kiosk for location data. The exemplary disclosed locationmodule may query an operator such as a service technician for locationdata each time the field technician accesses or logs on to a given kiosk(e.g., enters security credentials or uses any other digital, biometric,and/or mechanical access technique). For example, the exemplarydisclosed location module may query an operator via a user interface(e.g., of the kiosk or a user interface of the operator) each time theoperator accesses a given kiosk. FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplarylocation query for an operator, which may direct the operator to enterinput indicating whether or not the kiosk is located in the locationcurrently stored by the exemplary disclosed system. If the operatorenters input indicating that the location has been changed, theexemplary disclosed location module may query the user for additionallocation data. For example, an operator may type in details about thelocation using an exemplary disclosed user interface (e.g., of thekiosk, operator, and/or any other suitable user interface). For example,the exemplary disclosed module may prompt the operator (e.g.,technician) to upload one or more photos of the kiosk in its present(e.g., new) location. The operator may enter data using the Tools Menuof the exemplary disclosed user interface. The exemplary disclosedsystem may then be updated based on the data, with the updated data ofthe kiosk location being cascaded to some or all desired systems (e.g.,kiosk website locator, mobile app, and/or any other desired data systemmay be updated).

The exemplary disclosed location module and process may also provide asuitable update data packet for poor connectivity locations such as, forexample, a partial software update for poor connectivity locations. Asnew versions of the exemplary disclosed system are released, dataupdates such as software updates may be pushed to some or all systemlocations (e.g., kiosk locations). For example, the exemplary disclosedsystem remotely pushes data packets (e.g., software updates) to some orall locations (e.g., kiosks of the exemplary disclosed system's fleet).In at least some exemplary embodiments, an update data packet or package(e.g., a software package) may be up to 150 MB or more in size (e.g.,and may include some or all elements of a software update).

Some locations (e.g., kiosk locations) may be located in areas withrelatively low connectivity (e.g., for internet, Wi-Fi, data, cellular,and/or any other suitable system for transmitting data) and may beunable to receive an entire data packet (e.g., software package), whichmay result in a failure of the update. Because many or most elements ofthe software of the exemplary disclosed system (e.g., kiosk software)may not change from one release to the next release, the exemplarydisclosed system may provide a reduced data packet. The reduced datapacket may include data elements that have changed between givenreleases, and may not include data elements that have remained the samebetween given releases. The reduced data packet may be sent to some orsubstantially all locations (e.g., kiosks). For example, the reduceddata packet may be sent to kiosks that have been identified to be in lowconnectivity areas for example based on data query and input similar tothe exemplary disclosed location change process described above (e.g.,regarding FIG. 22). Also for example, the reduced data packet may besent to substantially all locations, for example including bothlocations that are in relatively good connectivity areas and location inrelatively low connectivity areas (e.g., and/or any desired portions orsubsets of locations may receive complete software updates or reducedsoftware updates). The exemplary disclosed location module may therebyreduce operational costs and may also efficiently provide the latestsoftware updates to a substantially entire fleet of locations. Forexample, the exemplary disclosed location module may avoid costsassociated with sending a technician to manually update software oflocations in relatively low connectivity areas.

The exemplary disclosed location module and process may also provide forefficient and effective use of international phone numbers. Theexemplary disclosed system may use a user's mobile phone number (e.g.,10-digit mobile number) that may be entered by a user via a locationuser interface (e.g., a touchscreen of a kiosk user interface) to gainaccess to a locker. The phone number may for example be a main orprimary user identifier (e.g., key identifier). In addition to queryingusers to enter 10 digits on an “Enter Mobile” page or other suitableinput field, the exemplary disclosed system may also provideinternational-location-based data entry based on a nation in which akiosk is located. For example, many international or foreign mobilenumbers include a different number of digits than a 10-number U.S.mobile phone.

The exemplary disclosed location module and process may include aprocess for receiving entry of international phone numbers. For example,the exemplary disclosed module may query a user for a mobile numberbased on predetermined nation data associated with a given kiosk, basedon GPS or other location-positioning data or sensing of a given kiosk,and/or based on a user inputting country location data in response to aninput inquiry made by the location module via the exemplary discloseduser interface. For example using the exemplary disclosed locationmodule and user interface, a user may select a country code and/or anyother suitable entry format based on selecting a nation or othersuitable data from the exemplary disclosed user interface (e.g.,pull-down on a touch-screen of a kiosk). A user may thereby select amobile phone data entry field having a correct number of digits for thatuser's nation. In at least some exemplary embodiments, a user may selectfrom a country code or other list to be provided with a proper formatfor entry of the user's mobile number using the exemplary disclosedlocation module and user interface.

The exemplary disclosed location module and process may automaticallydetect a locale (e.g., a country) in which the user is located andautomatically present a correct format for entering a mobile number. Forexample if the kiosk is located in Mexico, a default format for Mexicanphone numbers may be presented to users via the exemplary disclosedlocation module and user interface. Also for example, a user from theU.S. visiting Mexico that may be using the same kiosk may press an“international button” on the exemplary disclosed user interface toenter for example a number having 10 digits (e.g., U.S. mobile phoneformat) so that the user may still utilize the kiosk in Mexico using aU.S. phone number while the user is traveling.

The exemplary disclosed location module and process may also provide forreliable and secure entry of a mobile phone number to the exemplarydisclosed system. To provide for security, when a phone number isentered by a user via the exemplary disclosed user interface (e.g., atouchscreen), the digits may appear as asterisks in a displayed phonenumber field. The exemplary disclosed location module and process mayreduce a probability and/or substantially prevent a probability of auser making an error (e.g., mis-keying or mistyping) entering the user'snumber and not being able to detect the error because the phone numbermay be obscured by asterisks or other suitable objects. The exemplarydisclosed location module and process may thereby reduce a probabilityand/or substantially prevent a probability of the user being unable tolater retrieve the user's phone because the phone number entered uponretrieval may not match an incorrect number first entered by the user.For example using the exemplary disclosed user interface, the locationmodule may for example provide an option (e.g., display an eye icon on ascreen) for displaying either asterisks or digits. Using this option(e.g., using the graphical user interface element to toggle back andforth between digits and asterisks), users may see the numbers they haveentered in the case they desire to verify a number. For example, theexemplary disclosed location module may instruct the user to toggle backand forth between asterisks and digits to confirm the entered number.The user may use the option (e.g., tap an “eye” icon again or othersuitable element) to hide the numbers as asterisks or other suitableobjects for maintained security. Also for example, after a correctnumber of digits has been entered by a user via the user interface, theexemplary disclosed location module, via the user interface (e.g.,keypad), may not allow the user to enter in additional numbers. Forexample, the exemplary disclosed system may subtly gray out theasterisks or digits (e.g., numbers) to provide a visual cue to the userthat no additional digits may be entered (e.g., based on thepredetermined number of digits for a selected country for example asdescribed above being entered).

As discussed herein, the battery level of the phone may be brought tothe attention of the user and, as illustrated in FIG. 15, such alertsmay be customized by the user. The user may activate and deactivate anyalerts and may, for example, select a desired level of battery chargefor which an alert may be triggered. For example, a user may choose thatan alert as to battery life be presented when the phone has only about a30% charge remaining. Although any level of charge may be used toactivate an alert, a user may select between 10% and 80% such as inincrements of 10%. As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art,a battery may fluctuate over time and the percentage charge may beconsidered an approximation rather than an absolute direct measurementof remaining charge.

Administrative and operational alerts and notifications may be sent toand from each kiosk or subsets of kiosks, and to or from devices ofauthorized users, such as technicians, from one or more administrativeservers using known communication methodologies, such as SMS, email,group email, mesh network communications, and the like. Such alerts ornotifications may also be provided locally, via local communications,such as bluetooth or NFC, from an individual kiosk, such as in the eventof a power outage. Accordingly, alerts may occur “online”, and“off-line”.

Alerts may include, by way of nonlimiting example, alerts andnotifications related to the customer or Photo Verification as discussedthroughout. Such customer service alerts may include, by way of example,management alerts regarding the start and end of employee shifts toprovide customer service, notifications related to PhotoVerification(such as non-resolution of a PhotoVerification using automated systemswithin a given time frame), and the like.

Automated alerts may streamline the process of remotely managing a fleetof hundreds or thousands of kiosks by immediately notifying theoperations and management team of issues that either require attention,or by confirming successful ongoing operation of the fleet. By way ofnonlimiting example, alerts may include management alerts regarding thestart and end of customer service employee shifts; customer servicealerts related to PhotoVerification and/or non-resolution of aPhotoVerification in an acceptable amount of time; operational alertswhen a kiosk is offline or a certain hardware component is failing; orthe like.

Alerts may also include, by way of example, exception alerts, such asmay be unique to a store, kiosk, or the like. Other reports and alertsmay include, by way of nonlimiting example, a daily charge reportindicating a number of charges by kiosk, by day; an extended chargereport, such as may include a number of lockers by kiosk that are notcleared within a day; environmental reports, such as high or lowtemperatures; movement reports, such as, due to movement or tilting of akiosk; hardware or power malfunctions; all lockers full; firmware updateneeded; data usage or storage availability alert; and general data logs,such as may include security opening of a kiosk using, for example, arear keypad, locker doors open over time limit, and the like.

The exemplary disclosed process and system may include a control modulethat may perform artificial intelligence and machine learningoperations. The exemplary disclosed control module may perform aplurality of operations for providing efficient and effective control ofthe exemplary disclosed system.

The exemplary disclosed control module may provide usage monitoring andcontrol of the exemplary disclosed system. Based on a venue or alocation at which a station (e.g., a charging station or “kiosk”) islocated, the station may be utilized (or heavily utilized) duringcertain times and not utilized (or not heavily utilized) during othertimes. For example, a station (e.g., kiosk) may be utilized during avenue's open hours or during peak times (e.g., heavily utilized duringpeak times). The exemplary disclosed control module may monitor (e.g.,keep track of) and store data indicating the internet connectivity of aplurality of stations (e.g., a worldwide fleet of kiosks). For example,the exemplary disclosed control module (e.g., including kiosk software)may provide one or more data transmissions (e.g., may employ a series of“heartbeats” such as “adaptive heartbeats”) to notify or alert a serveror other suitable component of the exemplary disclosed system that thestation such as a kiosk is online and functioning properly. The one ormore transmissions may include data (e.g., a small, discrete packet ofdata) that may be sent back and forth between the kiosk and a server orother suitable component of the exemplary disclosed system. Thesetransmissions (e.g., heartbeats) may also define a speed or interval atwhich configuration updates may be shared between the station (e.g.,kiosk) and a server or other component of the exemplary disclosedsystem. This exemplary disclosed speed or interval may be the time itmay take for data (e.g., a new charge transaction) to reach the serveror other suitable component of the exemplary disclosed system from thestation or kiosk. These transmissions (e.g., heartbeats) may be sent atany regular interval, such as every 30 seconds or any other desiredinterval, and/or any other desired regular or variable intervals (e.g.,any desired pattern or predetermined schedule).

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to vary thetransmissions (e.g., heartbeats). For example, in cases in which thetransmissions (e.g., heartbeats) are partly or primarily used totroubleshoot station or kiosk issues by operators (e.g., a team ofremote employees who work during a certain time interval each day), theexemplary disclosed control module may include software that may beconfigured to reduce a frequency of transmissions (e.g., heartbeats)outside of a desired interval (e.g., “working hours” interval) orincrease the frequency of transmissions within the desired interval(e.g., “working hours” interval). The exemplary disclosed control modulemay also include software that may be configured to allow thetransmission interval (e.g., heartbeat interval) to be adjusted based onany desired factors such as, for example, a time of day, type of venue,user behavior, usage patterns at a kiosk, and/or any other suitablefactor. The exemplary disclosed control module may thereby reduce anoperation cost of the exemplary disclosed system because for stations orkiosks that achieve connectivity through 4G LTE or other cellular datatechniques, each transmission (e.g., heartbeat) may incur a data costand such transmission may be reduced by an operation of the exemplarydisclosed control module. For example, the exemplary disclosed controlmodule may include software that may be programmed to extend atransmission or heartbeat interval, such as from once every 30 secondsduring a desired interval (e.g., predefined “working hours”) to onceevery 5 minutes outside of the desired interval (e.g., outside ofpredefined “working hours”). As another example, during a venue's closedhours or off-peak hours, such as when the kiosk has not been utilized inthe past hour, the exemplary disclosed control module may includesoftware that may be programmed to decrease the transmission orheartbeat frequency to a station or kiosk located in that venue toreduce costs (e.g., data costs). In doing so, the exemplary disclosedcontrol module may operate using artificial intelligence and machinelearning processes for example as described herein.

In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplary disclosed controlmodule may vary the frequency of transmissions based on usage of astation or kiosk by users. For example, in the event that a userutilizes a station or kiosk during a period in which the transmissionsor heartbeats are sent relatively less frequently or at extendedintervals (e.g., outside of “working hours” of a venue in which thestation or kiosk is located), the exemplary disclosed control module mayoperate to send transmissions or heartbeats at greater frequency (e.g.,reduce the time interval or period between transmissions) immediatelyand/or shortly after the user begins to interact with the kiosk. Theexemplary disclosed control module may continue to send transmissions atan increased frequency following the user interaction. For example, theexemplary disclosed control module may maintain a “standard”transmission frequency (e.g., “working hours” heartbeat frequency) forany desired time period following the user interaction at the kiosk suchas, for example, a predefined time period of 60 minutes or any othersuitable time period.

The exemplary disclosed control module may provide for connectivitymonitoring and data usage monitoring to reduce monthly connectivity datausage and expenses. For example, when the exemplary disclosed systemincludes a plurality of stations (e.g., a fleet of interconnectedkiosks) that may be partially or primarily dependent on 4G LTE and otherdata connectivity services, it may be desirable to monitor data usage toreduce monthly data expenses. Accordingly, the exemplary disclosedcontrol module may utilize any suitable tools or algorithms (e.g.,business intelligence tools) to continuously monitor data usage acrossthe plurality of stations (e.g., the fleet) in real-time or nearreal-time. The exemplary disclosed control module may send or transmitalerts (e.g., automatic alerts) when a data usage at a particularlocation exceeds a predetermined or pre-defined threshold. For example,the exemplary disclosed control module may transmit the exemplarydisclosed automatic alert to a plurality of operators (e.g., apre-defined group of employees) or users, who may be tasked with the jobof investigating the data overage and identifying a root cause, toprevent further overages. The exemplary disclosed control module (e.g.,and/or system operators) may operate to make any suitable change tocorrect one or more issues causing the data usage overage such as, forexample, making a software modification, recommending a kiosk locationchange within a venue, recommending a hardware modification or upgrade,or any other suitable action (e.g., including operating using artificialintelligence and machine learning processes for example as describedherein). Also for example, the exemplary control module may utilize anysuitable tool or algorithm (e.g., business intelligence tools and/ormachine learning processes) to track monthly data expenses to budget forfuture station kiosk expansions and planning.

The exemplary disclosed control module may provide alerts to operatorsand users such as, for example, a warning alert (e.g., sound and/orimage) to direct a user's attention to a user interface (e.g., screen)of the exemplary disclosed system. A station (e.g., kiosk) of theexemplary disclosed system may provide a user flow that involves a userinteracting with a user interface (e.g., digital screen displayed on atouchscreen). The exemplary disclosed control module may call a user'sattention to a particular state of the kiosk (e.g., as illustrated onthe user interface) or may provide instructions for a user to perform adesired action (e.g., to complete the user's charging transaction or toenhance or ensure security of the user's device). In selecting awarning, the exemplary disclosed control module may use artificialintelligence and machine learning processes for example as describedherein. The exemplary disclosed control module may guide or influenceuser behavior for example by controlling a station (e.g., kiosk) toflash lights disposed in one or more cavities or lockers, displayflashing or moving images or videos (e.g. GIFs) on a display of theexemplary disclosed user interface (e.g., on a screen), emit audiorecordings or warning sounds that project from kiosk speakers, and/orany other suitable actions for providing an alert.

The exemplary disclosed control module may provide a plurality of toolsfor use by station or kiosk technicians (e.g., for mobile applicationuse, inventory tracking, and/or after-hours or emergency visitassignments and tracking).

For example after a station or kiosk is installed at a venue, routinepreventative and/or emergency maintenance may be appropriate to maintainthe station or kiosk in a fully operational status. Although a portionof this maintenance may be performed by a venue staff in some cases,some of the maintenance may be performed by system operators (e.g.,part-time or full-time employees, e.g. “field technicians”), who mayreceive instructions and inventory via the exemplary disclosed system(e.g., from a company or organization operating the exemplary disclosedsystem). These instructions may include data identifying parts orcomponents of the station or kiosk to be investigated, replaced, orrepaired, a time or due date by which each visit is to be completed,and/or any other suitable technician data. The exemplary disclosedsystem may utilize any suitable software or algorithms to assign fieldtechs to a particular “work order,” such as a computerized maintenancemanagement software and/or machine learning processes.

While onsite at a station or kiosk location, an operator such as a fieldtechnician may log into the exemplary disclosed system via a userinterface of the kiosk or the operator's user interface (e.g., based onrunning Kiosk Tools Menu software) using a secure code. This login tothe exemplary disclosed control module may provide the operator accessto diagnostic tools and data indicating components that are to berepaired via access to the exemplary disclosed user interface andsystem. The operator such as a technician may interact with theexemplary disclosed control module via any suitable user interface suchas a kiosk touchscreen, a mobile app connected to the kiosk server,and/or any other suitable user interface for example as describedherein. The operator may thereby receive instructions, input dataincluding notes about their visit, request additional inventory, and/ortransmit or receive any other suitable data from the exemplary disclosedcontrol module.

The exemplary disclosed control module may thereby track parts inventoryin real-time or near real-time while an operator (e.g. servicetechnician) is onsite at a station or kiosk. The exemplary disclosedcontrol module may utilize machine learning processes to developanalytical models to predict rate of failure of parts over time and/orfuture desired hardware inventory amounts. The exemplary disclosedcontrol module may thereby provide forecasts for inventory and leveragebulk component purchases to achieve cost savings. The exemplarydisclosed control module may also recommend allocation of resources forcomponents identified with a relatively highest or high failure rateand/or overall failure cost to continue to improve a product offeringand to reduce costs.

The exemplary disclosed control module may provide for management and/orassignments for work groups. The exemplary disclosed system may includea plurality of stations or kiosk (e.g., a system of interconnectedkiosks), in which those stations or kiosks are tracked from a secureserver by the exemplary disclosed control module. Further, a pluralityof operators (e.g., including employees and/or field technicians) mayeach have unique login credentials to the server of the exemplarydisclosed system. The exemplary disclosed control module, via a serveror other component, may assign operators to a particular kiosk or set ofkiosks, restrict access to a set of kiosks, and/or assign work on aparticular kiosk to a user or set of users (e.g., via data transmittedto and from operators via the exemplary disclosed system). For example,the exemplary disclosed module may provide data to operators regardinginstallation of a kiosk in a new location or removal of that kiosk fromits current venue and/or any other suitable instructions or data via auser interface and/or other components of the exemplary disclosedsystem. In doing so, the exemplary disclosed control module may operateusing artificial intelligence and machine learning processes for exampleas described herein.

The exemplary disclosed control module may perform calculations and/orutilize machine learning to leverage a business intelligence tool togain insight and perform analysis regarding kiosk usage and customerbehavior. The exemplary disclosed control module may utilize a businessintelligence tool (e.g., Looker) to analyze data including kiosk usageand customer behavior. Using machine learning processes, the exemplarydisclosed control module may analyze and identify optimal installationvenues for future expansion, identify trends such as charging trendsover time, identify, monitor, and analyze a status of routine softwareupdates, and/or receive or transmit notifications and alerts regardingkiosks (e.g., of a fleet) that are to be serviced.

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to perform uptimeand/or downtime calculations. For example, the exemplary disclosedcontrol module may perform calculations to determine (e.g., tabulate)and provide data of an amount and/or percentage of time during which akiosk may be online and/or available for users (e.g., uptime) over agiven period of time. Also for example, the exemplary disclosed controlmodule may perform calculations to determine (e.g., tabulate) andprovide data of an amount and/or percentage of time during which a kioskmay be offline and/or unusable for users (e.g., downtime) over a givenperiod of time. The exemplary disclosed control method may automaticallycalculate uptime and downtime based on any suitable factors such as, forexample, connectivity, power outage, parts failures, screen errors,and/or any other suitable criteria. The exemplary disclosed system mayoperate to collect or derive operational time periods (e.g., storehours) from any suitable data source such as, for example, a liveAPI/data feed and/or web-based services (e.g., Google Location). Forexample, the exemplary disclosed control method may define downtimeusing any suitable parameters such as, for example, excluding instancesof lost power connectivity outside of business hours (e.g., theexemplary disclosed control module may perform a downtime calculationaccording to this and/or other parameters). The exemplary disclosedcontrol module may operate to transmit data of the exemplary disclosedcalculations and analysis (e.g., percentages over time, discreteinstances of downtime, and/or any other desired analysis) to users(e.g., clients) via components of the exemplary disclosed system.

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to control access toa user's personally identifiable information (e.g., PII). For example asdescribed further below, the exemplary disclosed control module mayprovide for role-based restriction of access, a “right to be forgotten,”and/or safeguarding of data exchange between users. The exemplarydisclosed control module may control access to PII using artificialintelligence and machine learning processes.

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to provide role-basedrestriction of access by users to client data and/or any operationfeatures. The exemplary disclosed system and method may be utilized byoperators and/or administrators (e.g., operators of the exemplarydisclosed system), users (e.g., end users or customers who interact withsystem components such as a station or kiosk), and clients (e.g.,business entities and/or “brands” that may be clients of the operator oradministrator of the exemplary disclosed system; e.g., business entitiessuch as retailers). Per client input request (e.g., and/or an end userrequest), predetermined algorithms, operator instructions, and/or anyother suitable instructions, the exemplary disclosed control module mayoperate to restrict access to a particular end-users (e.g. customers)PII. For example, access to a given user's PII may be restricted viaalgorithm (e.g., software rules), by which a group of system operatorsand/or administrators may be given access to that given end user's(e.g., customer's) PII for a defined or predetermined period of time. Inat least some exemplary embodiments, data and reporting foradministrators and/or operators who are excluded from access to thegiven end-user's PII may be modified to hide some or substantially allPII for the given end-user's PII (e.g., for one or more particularclients or client class). For example, by using logical databaseseparation, access by an operator and/or administrator to any end-user(e.g. customer) PII may be restricted by role, by brand, or othertechniques so that operators and/or administrators have access toend-user PII as per their role and other configured access rules.

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to provide “right tobe forgotten” or “right to deletion” processes (e.g., softwareprocesses). For example, the exemplary disclosed control module mayoperate to maintain compliance with and respond to requests under theCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), whereby California consumershave the right to ask entities such as companies regarding whatinformation is collected about them, and for companies to either forgetor delete all of their information (e.g., PII) and not to sell theirinformation. The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to bothcomply with and also balance CCPA criteria with other criteria such asbusiness reasons as to why a user's (e.g., person's) data may not beimmediately deleted from the exemplary disclosed system (e.g., userinformation is maintained for a certain period of time aftertransactions are made so that owners or operators of the exemplarydisclosed system may respond to alleged fraud or theft situations).Accordingly, when the exemplary disclosed control module receives aclient request or a user request (e.g., consumer request) such as anofficial request (e.g., a request under CCPA, General Data ProtectionRegulation (GDPR), Nevada Senate Bill 220 “SB220,” or any other requestmade under a law or other suitable policy enacted to protect consumerprivacy), the exemplary disclosed control module may first evaluate(e.g., confirm) that user based on the user's phone number, emailaddress, and/or any other desired identifying information. If theexemplary disclosed control module identifies the user (e.g., based onthe user's phone number and/or email address), the exemplary disclosedcontrol module determines (e.g., automatically detects) when that user'slast or most recent transaction was with a station or kiosk of theexemplary disclosed system. If the time elapsed since the last or mostrecent transaction exceeds a predetermined or certain threshold (e.g., 3months or any other desired time period), then the exemplary disclosedcontrol module may operate to delete all of that user's information fromthe exemplary disclosed system (e.g., that user's information isautomatically deleted from multiple tables and/or all databases of theexemplary disclosed system). If the time elapsed since the last or mostrecent transaction does not exceed the predetermined or certainthreshold, then the exemplary disclosed control module will operate tomaintain the information until the threshold is reached, and then deletethe data as described above. If the user's information is not yetdeleted (e.g., the threshold has not been reached) after that usersubmits a request, and that user transacts with the exemplary disclosedsystem again before the threshold time period is reached, then theexemplary disclosed control module may extend the scheduled deletiondate so that the full threshold time period is reset (e.g., thethreshold time period is reset to the full time period, e.g., the full 3months before it is deleted).

The exemplary disclosed system may also share user data (e.g., PII) withthird parties such as clients or sponsors. If a user opts out of sale ofinformation (e.g., future information) for example by entering suchinput to an exemplary disclosed user interface, the exemplary disclosedcontrol module operates to prevent sharing of that user's information(e.g., PII). For example, the exemplary disclosed control module mayoperate to exclude that user's data from data transmission (e.g.,automated data extracts) that may be sent to third parties that maycontract with an owner or operator of the exemplary disclosed system tohave access and use of customer information. In at least some exemplaryembodiments, the exemplary disclosed control module may add a flag(e.g., make an indication in a data field indicating opt-in or opt-out)to the user's identifier (e.g., mobile number) that flags that user'sdata (e.g., records and information) from being transferred outside ofthe exemplary disclosed system (e.g., passed to a third party that mayfor example be paying for access to information). The exemplarydisclosed control module may thereby operate to automatically controldata that falls under a right-to-be-forgotten request and/or ado-not-sell request (e.g., a CCPA request, a GRPR request, NevadaConsumer Rights policies, or any other request made under a law or othersuitable policy enacted to protect consumer privacy) to reduce orsubstantially avoid costs associated with manual handling and processingof such requests.

The exemplary disclosed control module may further operate to safeguardtransfer of data (e.g., PII) between users (e.g., clients such asbusiness entities). For example, logical separation may be provided inthe database between business entities (e.g., clients). In at least someexemplary embodiments, clients may also be “users” of the exemplarydisclosed system, and for example by logging in would be able to viewinformation related to their business entity (e.g., but not otherinformation such as other clients, business entities, and/or clientusers.) The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to control(e.g., safeguard) transfer of data in system storages such ascloud-based storage (e.g., storage facilities) to selectively preventsharing of some or substantially all user data (e.g., PII) between usersof the exemplary disclosed system. The exemplary disclosed system andmethod may not display data of a given client when another client islogged in (e.g., may not display a given client's data to otherclients). For example, the exemplary disclosed control module mayoperate to substantially prevent an information security breach and/orany other undesirable data exchange. For example, the exemplarydisclosed control module may include elements of a graphical userinterface of the exemplary disclosed user interface that may include alayer that separates different classes of information. For example,substantially all configuration details (e.g., all information and data)may be created and stored in a first layer (e.g., a “Brands” layer),while a second layer (e.g., a “Partners” layer) may include informationthat may be transferred. Transaction level data may be associated withthe first level (e.g., “Brands”). For example, each brand may be mappedto a single “Partner,” and multiple “Brands” may be assigned to the samepartner. Users and/or operators having a relatively high orhighest-privileged administrative roles may access the second (e.g.,“Partner”) level and designate where user data is to be sent to and atwhat frequency. The exemplary disclosed control module may therebyoperate to control data transfer and protect transaction-level data(e.g., user PII) from being shared except as designated on the “Partner”level (relatively high or highest-privileged administrative roles) ofthe exemplary disclosed system.

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to query for andobtain data regarding graphical user interface and user experience(UI/UX) modifications and designs. For example as changes are made toUI/UX of the exemplary disclosed system by system operators and/or basedon machine learning processes of the exemplary disclosed control module,data of the UI/UX designs may be provided to a third party user (e.g.,market research firm) in real-time or near real-time. The third partyuser may then transfer data including feedback information (e.g.,proposed changes or comments) back to the exemplary disclosed controlmodule, which the control module may utilize to further update the UI/UX(e.g., based on operator input and/or artificial intelligenceoperations).

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to control datatransfer and data reporting for example by generating and transferringdata including automated reports having actionable operationalinformation. For example, the exemplary disclosed control module mayperform analysis, calculations, and/or machine learning operations usinguser data to generate automatic reports (e.g., based on predeterminedcriteria, operator input, and/or machine learning) to notify one or moreoperators (e.g., various operators and/or team of operators) ofperformance and/or operational issues so that the operators mayproactively address the issues if desired. For example, the exemplarydisclosed control module may generate one or more reports including dataof an amount of time taken for each operator (e.g., customer servicerepresentative logged into the exemplary disclosed system) to respond toa call. Based on data including averages over time, the exemplarydisclosed control module may provide data, analysis, and recommendationsthat can be used to train and help operators (e.g., team members) toevaluate and improve their performance. Also for example, the exemplarydisclosed control module may generate one or more reports including dataof an amount of time taken for data to be transferred (e.g., forinformation to be passed from a station or kiosk to a remotely-locatedserver of the exemplary disclosed system). Based on the data, theexemplary disclosed control module may provide data, analysis, andrecommendations that can be used to determine connectivity issues atvenues, which may adversely impact user's ability to conducttransactions on the stations or kiosks.

Also for example, the exemplary disclosed control module may generateone or more reports including data of schedules and timing for sendingnotification reports on a distinct cadence (e.g., daily, weekly,monthly) or schedule to a specific group or groups of operators, users,and/or third parties. Based on the data, the exemplary disclosed controlmodule may provide data, analysis, and recommendations that may be usedto identify operators (e.g., employees) who are responsible for and/orsuited (e.g., best suited) for resolving an issue may receive notice ofthat issue in a timely manner. Further for example, the exemplarydisclosed control module may control reports to be generated and/ortransmitted when desired criteria is met (e.g., when a new data point isavailable for the report).

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to provide a fleetfailure notification or alert. The exemplary disclosed control modulemay operate to transfer data including a notice or alert of a failure ofa plurality of stations or kiosks (e.g., a fleet failure) to one or moreoperators (e.g., notify certain team members when certain types of fleetfailures occur). For example if a certain percentage of stations orkiosks go offline within a predetermined time (e.g., certain number ofminutes), a first subset of operators (e.g., a “Business Continuity”team) may be notified with a first data transmission or message, and/ora second subset of operators (e.g., an entire team) may receive a seconddata transmission or message (e.g., a different notification message,such as a more general message).

The exemplary disclosed control module may transfer data (e.g., sendnotifications) by one or more suitable techniques such as, for example,an email, a WhatsApp channel, a text or SMS message, and/or any othersuitable communication system that may communicate with the exemplarydisclosed system. When the percentage of stations or kiosks that isonline goes back above a certain threshold, then the exemplary disclosedcontrol module may generate a different notification for any desiredsubsets of operators (e.g., to different groups of people). For example,the exemplary disclosed control module may transfer data (e.g., notify)relatively large groups of operators (e.g., people) in the event of afleet failure because the fleet failure may be caused by a software orsystem-wide failure that is to be remedied by those operators (e.g.,individuals) as soon as possible. Also, users (e.g., clients) may alsonotice the fleet failure, and therefore the exemplary disclosed controlmodule may operate to notify operators (e.g., team members) so that theymay be prepared to interface with clients regarding the fleet failureand/or any other related issues.

The exemplary disclosed control module may operate to introduce newtechnology available in the exemplary disclosed system to users via theexemplary disclosed user interface. The exemplary disclosed controlmodule may operate to present new features and/or functionalities of theexemplary disclosed system to users via the exemplary disclosed userinterface for example by displaying screens, sounds, videos, and/or anyother suitable features (e.g., in screen flow) to educate users (e.g.,consumers) regarding the new features and/or functionalities. Forexample, new features and/or functionalities may include a new devicesanitizing technology inside of each locker, new hardware and/orsoftware to assist visually impaired persons (e.g., assisted listening)to transact with the station or kiosk, and/or any other suitablefeatures and/or functionalities. In at least some exemplary embodiments,the exemplary disclosed user interface may include screens that may beprogrammed to time-out after a set period of time, such as 30 seconds,or may query the user to tap a button on the screen to proceed (such as“OK, GOT IT!”).

In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplary disclosed systemfor verifying the identity of a user may include a door that selectivelyopens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes to block accessto the cavity, a lock configured to selectively lock and unlock the doorwhen the door is closed, a camera configured to image a user areaadjacent to the door, computing memory having associated therewith code,and a processor communicatively coupled with the computing memory. Theprocessor may be configured to execute the code to control the camera torecord a first image data of the user area that includes a plurality offirst image sets recorded at a plurality of first times, store the firstimage data, control the camera to record a second image data of the userarea that includes a second image set recorded at a second time, andselectively unlock the door based on comparing the second image data tothe first image data. Comparing the second image data to the first imagedata may include transmitting the first and second image data to aremotely-located device, selectively displaying some of the plurality offirst images sets on the remotely-located device, and continuouslydisplaying the second image set on the remotely-located device. Thecamera may record the second image data of the user area that includesthe second image set at the second time based on the user in the userarea inputting incorrect input data. Continuously displaying the secondimage set on the remotely-located device may include continuouslydisplaying the second image set depicting the user in the user areainputting incorrect input data on the remotely-located device, thesecond image set being displayed adjacent to a movable carousel of theplurality of first images sets displayed on the remotely-located device.The movable carousel may be a variable display of the plurality of firstimage sets that an operator of the remotely-located device manipulatesto display a desired image of the plurality of first image sets.Comparing the second image data to the first image data may includesubsequently receiving an operator data from the remotely-locateddevice, and transmitting the first and second image data to theremotely-located device occurs after the user in the user area inputsincorrect input data. The incorrect input data may be selected from thegroup consisting of an incorrect security image selection or anincorrect PIN code. The operator data may be selected from the groupconsisting of a security question, a security instruction instructing auser in the user area via voice by VPN into the exemplary disclosedstation to remove a hat or change position in the user area, and asecurity instruction instructing a user in the user area via onscreendisplay to remove a hat or change position in the user area. Forexample, the security instruction may be a manual verification by acustomer service representative such as, for example, a verificationasking for additional information via voice, screen, phone call,speaking to store personnel, and/or any other suitable technique. Alsofor example, any suitable photo comparison technique and/or facialrecognition software may be utilized for verification. The door may bemaintained in a locked state when the first image data defines a firstset of images of the user in the user area at the first time and thesecond image data defines a second set of images not including averified match of the user in the user area at the second time.Comparing the second image data to the first image data may includeusing facial recognition software.

In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplary disclosed methodmay include providing a door that selectively opens to allow access to acavity and selectively closes to block access to the cavity, using alock to selectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed,using a camera to image a user area adjacent to the door, providingcomputing memory having associated therewith code and a processorcommunicatively coupled with the computing memory to execute the code,and controlling the camera to record a first image data of the user areathat includes a plurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality offirst times. The exemplary disclosed method may also include storing thefirst image data, locking the door, controlling the camera to record asecond image data of the user area that includes a second image setrecorded at a second time, transmitting the first and second image datato a remotely-located device, selectively displaying some of theplurality of first images sets on the remotely-located device,continuously displaying the second image set on the remotely-locateddevice, and selectively unlocking the door based on comparing the secondimage data to the first image data using the remotely-located device.The exemplary disclosed method may further include recording the secondimage data of the user area that includes the second image set at thesecond time using the camera based on a user in the user area inputtingcorrect input data or incorrect input data. The exemplary disclosedmethod may also include continuously displaying the second image setdepicting the user in the user area inputting incorrect input data onthe remotely-located device, and displaying a movable carousel of theplurality of first images sets on the remotely-located device adjacentto the second image set displayed on the remotely-located device. Theexemplary disclosed method may further include manipulating the displayof the movable carousel to display a desired image of the plurality offirst image sets. Comparing the second image data to the first imagedata may include subsequently receiving an operator data from theremotely-located device, and transmitting the first and second imagedata to the remotely-located device occurs after a user in the user areainputs an incorrect security image selection data or an incorrect PINcode data. The operator data may be selected from the group consistingof a security question, a security instruction instructing a user in theuser area via voice by VPN into the exemplary disclosed station toremove a hat or change position in the user area, and a securityinstruction instructing a user in the user area via onscreen display toremove a hat or change position in the user area. For example, thesecurity instruction may be a manual verification by a customer servicerepresentative such as, for example, a verification asking foradditional information via voice, screen, phone call, speaking to storepersonnel, and/or any other suitable technique. Also for example, anysuitable photo comparison technique and/or facial recognition softwaremay be utilized for verification. Selectively unlocking the door mayinclude unlocking the door when the first image data defines a first setof images of a user in the user area at the first time and the secondimage data defines a second set of images of the user in the user areaat the second time. The processor may maintain the door in a lockedstate when the first image data defines a first set of images of a userin the user area at the first time and the second image data defines asecond set of images not including a verified match of the user in theuser area at the second time.

In at least some exemplary embodiments, the exemplary disclosed systemfor verifying the identity of a user may include a door that selectivelyopens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes to block accessto the cavity, a lock configured to selectively lock and unlock the doorwhen the door is closed, a camera configured to image a user areaadjacent to the door, computing memory having associated therewith code,and a processor communicatively coupled with the computing memory. Theprocessor may be configured to execute the code and to control thecamera to record a first image data of the user area that includes aplurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality of first times,store the first image data, control the camera to record a second imagedata of the user area that includes a second image set recorded at asecond time, and selectively unlock the door based on comparing thesecond image data to the first image data. Comparing the second imagedata to the first image data may include transmitting the first andsecond image data to a remotely-located device and subsequentlyreceiving an operator data from the remotely-located device.Transmitting the first and second image data to the remotely-locateddevice may occur after the user in the user area inputs incorrect inputdata. Comparing the second image data to the first image data mayinclude continuously displaying the second image set on theremotely-located device. Continuously displaying the second image set onthe remotely-located device may include continuously displaying thesecond image set depicting the user in the user area inputting incorrectinput data on the remotely-located device, the second image set beingdisplayed adjacent to a movable carousel of the plurality of firstimages sets displayed on the remotely-located device. The movablecarousel may be a variable display of the plurality of first image setsthat an operator of the remotely-located device manipulates to display adesired image of the plurality of first image sets.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable anyperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scopeof the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited tothe examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded thewidest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for verifying the identity of a user,comprising: a door that selectively opens to allow access to a cavityand selectively closes to block access to the cavity; a lock configuredto selectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed; acamera configured to image a user area adjacent to the door; computingmemory having associated therewith code; and a processor communicativelycoupled with the computing memory, configured to execute the code andto: control the camera to record a first image data of the user areathat includes a plurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality offirst times; store the first image data; control the camera to record asecond image data of the user area that includes a second image setrecorded at a second time; and selectively unlock the door based oncomparing the second image data to the first image data; whereincomparing the second image data to the first image data includes:transmitting the first and second image data to a remotely-locateddevice; selectively displaying some of the plurality of first imagessets on the remotely-located device; and continuously displaying thesecond image set on the remotely-located device; wherein the camerarecords the second image data of the user area that includes the secondimage set at the second time when the user in the user area inputscorrect input data or incorrect input data.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein continuously displaying the second image set on theremotely-located device includes continuously displaying the secondimage set depicting the user in the user area inputting incorrect inputdata on the remotely-located device, the second image set beingdisplayed adjacent to a movable carousel of the plurality of firstimages sets displayed on the remotely-located device.
 3. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the movable carousel is a variable display of theplurality of first image sets that an operator of the remotely-locateddevice manipulates to display a desired image of the plurality of firstimage sets.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein comparing the second imagedata to the first image data includes using facial recognition software.5. A method, comprising: providing a door that selectively opens toallow access to a cavity and selectively closes to block access to thecavity; using a lock to selectively lock and unlock the door when thedoor is closed; using a camera to image a user area adjacent to thedoor; providing computing memory having associated therewith code and aprocessor communicatively coupled with the computing memory to executethe code; controlling the camera to record a first image data of theuser area that includes a plurality of first image sets recorded at aplurality of first times; storing the first image data; locking thedoor; controlling the camera to record a second image data of the userarea that includes a second image set recorded at a second time;transmitting the first and second image data to a remotely-locateddevice; selectively displaying some of the plurality of first imagessets on the remotely-located device; continuously displaying the secondimage set on the remotely-located device; selectively unlocking the doorbased on comparing the second image data to the first image data usingthe remotely-located device; and recording the second image data of theuser area that includes the second image set at the second time usingthe camera based on a user in the user area inputting incorrect inputdata.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: continuouslydisplaying the second image set depicting the user in the user areainputting incorrect input data on the remotely-located device; anddisplaying a movable carousel of the plurality of first images sets onthe remotely-located device adjacent to the second image set displayedon the remotely-located device.
 7. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising manipulating the display of the movable carousel to display adesired image of the plurality of first image sets.
 8. A system forverifying the identity of a user, comprising: a door that selectivelyopens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes to block accessto the cavity; a lock configured to selectively lock and unlock the doorwhen the door is closed; a camera configured to image a user areaadjacent to the door; computing memory having associated therewith code;and a processor communicatively coupled with the computing memory,configured to execute the code and to: control the camera to record afirst image data of the user area that includes a plurality of firstimage sets recorded at a plurality of first times; store the first imagedata; control the camera to record a second image data of the user areathat includes a second image set recorded at a second time; andselectively unlock the door based on comparing the second image data tothe first image data; wherein comparing the second image data to thefirst image data includes transmitting the first and second image datato a remotely-located device and subsequently receiving an operator datafrom the remotely-located device; wherein transmitting the first andsecond image data to the remotely-located device occurs after the userin the user area inputs incorrect input data; and wherein comparing thesecond image data to the first image data includes continuouslydisplaying the second image set on the remotely-located device.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein continuously displaying the second image seton the remotely-located device includes continuously displaying thesecond image set depicting the user in the user area inputting incorrectinput data on the remotely-located device, the second image set beingdisplayed adjacent to a movable carousel of the plurality of firstimages sets displayed on the remotely-located device.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the movable carousel is a variable display of theplurality of first image sets that an operator of the remotely-locateddevice manipulates to display a desired image of the plurality of firstimage sets.
 11. A system for verifying the identity of a user,comprising: a door that selectively opens to allow access to a cavityand selectively closes to block access to the cavity; a lock configuredto selectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed; acamera configured to image a user area adjacent to the door; computingmemory having associated therewith code; and a processor communicativelycoupled with the computing memory, configured to execute the code andto: control the camera to record a first image data of the user areathat includes a plurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality offirst times; store the first image data; control the camera to record asecond image data of the user area that includes a second image setrecorded at a second time; and selectively unlock the door based oncomparing the second image data to the first image data; whereincomparing the second image data to the first image data includes:transmitting the first and second image data to a remotely-locateddevice; selectively displaying some of the plurality of first imagessets on the remotely-located device; and continuously displaying thesecond image set on the remotely-located device; wherein comparing thesecond image data to the first image data includes receiving an operatordata from the remotely-located device; and wherein transmitting thefirst and second image data to the remotely-located device occurs afterthe user in the user area inputs incorrect input data.
 12. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the incorrect input data is an incorrect securityimage selection or an incorrect PIN code.
 13. The system of claim 11,wherein the operator data is selected from the group consisting of asecurity question and a security instruction instructing a user in theuser area to remove a hat or change position in the user area.
 14. Asystem for verifying the identity of a user, comprising: a door thatselectively opens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes toblock access to the cavity; a lock configured to selectively lock andunlock the door when the door is closed; a camera configured to image auser area adjacent to the door; computing memory having associatedtherewith code; and a processor communicatively coupled with thecomputing memory, configured to execute the code and to: control thecamera to record a first image data of the user area that includes aplurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality of first times;store the first image data; control the camera to record a second imagedata of the user area that includes a second image set recorded at asecond time; and selectively unlock the door based on comparing thesecond image data to the first image data; wherein comparing the secondimage data to the first image data includes: transmitting the first andsecond image data to a remotely-located device; selectively displayingsome of the plurality of first images sets on the remotely-locateddevice; and continuously displaying the second image set on theremotely-located device; and wherein the door is maintained in a lockedstate when the first image data defines a first set of images of theuser in the user area at the first time and the second image datadefines a second set of images not including a verified match of theuser in the user area at the second time.
 15. A method, comprising:providing a door that selectively opens to allow access to a cavity andselectively closes to block access to the cavity; using a lock toselectively lock and unlock the door when the door is closed; using acamera to image a user area adjacent to the door; providing computingmemory having associated therewith code and a processor communicativelycoupled with the computing memory to execute the code; controlling thecamera to record a first image data of the user area that includes aplurality of first image sets recorded at a plurality of first times;storing the first image data; locking the door; controlling the camerato record a second image data of the user area that includes a secondimage set recorded at a second time; transmitting the first and secondimage data to a remotely-located device; selectively displaying some ofthe plurality of first images sets on the remotely-located device;continuously displaying the second image set on the remotely-locateddevice; and selectively unlocking the door based on comparing the secondimage data to the first image data using the remotely-located device;wherein comparing the second image data to the first image data includesreceiving an operator data from the remotely-located device; and whereintransmitting the first and second image data to the remotely-locateddevice occurs after a user in the user area inputs an incorrect securityimage selection data or an incorrect PIN code data.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the operator data is selected from the groupconsisting of a security question and a security instruction instructinga user in the user area to remove a hat or change position in the userarea.
 17. A method, comprising: providing a door that selectively opensto allow access to a cavity and selectively closes to block access tothe cavity; using a lock to selectively lock and unlock the door whenthe door is closed; using a camera to image a user area adjacent to thedoor; providing computing memory having associated therewith code and aprocessor communicatively coupled with the computing memory to executethe code; controlling the camera to record a first image data of theuser area that includes a plurality of first image sets recorded at aplurality of first times; storing the first image data; locking thedoor; controlling the camera to record a second image data of the userarea that includes a second image set recorded at a second time;transmitting the first and second image data to a remotely-locateddevice; selectively displaying some of the plurality of first imagessets on the remotely-located device; continuously displaying the secondimage set on the remotely-located device; and selectively unlocking thedoor based on comparing the second image data to the first image datausing the remotely-located device; wherein selectively unlocking thedoor includes unlocking the door when the first image data defines afirst set of images of a user in the user area at the first time and thesecond image data defines a second set of images of the user in the userarea at the second time.
 18. A method, comprising: providing a door thatselectively opens to allow access to a cavity and selectively closes toblock access to the cavity; using a lock to selectively lock and unlockthe door when the door is closed; using a camera to image a user areaadjacent to the door; providing computing memory having associatedtherewith code and a processor communicatively coupled with thecomputing memory to execute the code; controlling the camera to record afirst image data of the user area that includes a plurality of firstimage sets recorded at a plurality of first times; storing the firstimage data; locking the door; controlling the camera to record a secondimage data of the user area that includes a second image set recorded ata second time; transmitting the first and second image data to aremotely-located device; selectively displaying some of the plurality offirst images sets on the remotely-located device; continuouslydisplaying the second image set on the remotely-located device; andselectively unlocking the door based on comparing the second image datato the first image data using the remotely-located device; wherein theprocessor maintains the door in a locked state when the first image datadefines a first set of images of a user in the user area at the firsttime and the second image data defines a second set of images notincluding a verified match of the user in the user area at the secondtime.